


Team Nightmare

by highvalour



Category: Devil May Cry, Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Naruto, Venom (Comics)
Genre: Gen, Humor
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-03
Updated: 2017-01-01
Packaged: 2018-06-06 06:03:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 41,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6741640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/highvalour/pseuds/highvalour
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Taken from my collection of drabbles over on Fanfiction.Net, Team Nightmare sees the genin of Team Seven granted the powers - and some of the personality - of several other fictional characters. Inspired by “A Freak, A Creep & A Psychopath” By Legendary Legacy and has, over many chapters, been in the works since 2012.</p>
<p>Hope you enjoy!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Meet Team Nightmare

**_First section of my story Team Nightmare, posted over on Fanfiction.Net in my ‘Who Needs The Kyuubi’ collection between the 13 th and 21st of May 2012. It is inspired by “A Freak, A Creep & A Psychopath” By Legendary Legacy and sees Naruto Uzumaki fused with Edward Elric, Sasuke Uchiha fused with Dante (From DMC4) and Sakura Haruno fused with Marvel’s Venom._ **

**_Barring spelling mistakes I noticed afterwards no changes have been made since this stuff was originally written… This story is a timeline charting my growth as a writer, and that’s just sad!_ **

**_All Intellectual Properties Belong To Their Rightful Owners_ **

**_XXXXX_ **

****

XX Konoha Shinobi Academy, Konoha; Fire Country XX

Kakashi popped his head into the classroom and got his first look at his would-be Genin. Granted it wasn't the first time he'd ever seen the children, well it was his first time ever seeing Sakura. Kakashi had seen Naruto around the village, either in passing or when he'd watched the boy from afar ensuring he was okay. He'd also seen Sasuke several times but not as often. Kakashi had read the Academy reports on the trio earlier and so Kakashi could be forgiven for thinking he knew what to expect, he was wrong.

The first one Kakashi noticed was Sasuke. It appeared the boy had traded in the blue, short-sleeved shirt with a high collar and the Uchiha crest on the back, something Kakashi use to think was all the clan would wear when he was young, for a large red coat. Kakashi couldn't tell much about it other than its sleeves had been rolled up as Sasuke was resting his head on the desk with his arms crossed in front of him. His hair also seemed to lie completely flat instead of spiking at the back. Kakashi couldn't see his Forehead Protector. Wondering what caused the change Kakashi scanned the room for the other two.

It seemed it had been longer then he'd thought since he'd last seen Naruto as the boy's spiky hair was now so long he was able to tie it in a braid that hung down to his shoulders with his bangs parted to frame his face. He'd also swapped that eyesore of an orange track suit for black shirt and red coat. The boy was reading a small, plain book in a similar manner to Kakashi and Jiraiya's work. Naruto wore his Forehead protector around his neck.

Turning Kakashi jumped slightly when he found himself face to face with his third student, who was squatting on the wall. Apart from shorter hair and apparent mastery of Tree Climbing she seemed to match the report he'd been given.

"Hmm... My first impression of you guys is..." Kakashi said. "You don't look like much. So, meet me on the roof and we'll introduce ourselves okay?"

As Kakashi reappeared on the roof via a Body Flicker Jutsu he found himself staring at a bored looking Sasuke, who was leaning on the kind of sword those psychos from Kiri loved. It was big and scary and clearly meant to be used by a mad man. The whole thing appeared to be made of a dull grey metal, its blade looked a bit like a large kunai blade and its guard was a metallic skull and rib cage.

"Damn, you beat us up." Said a voice behind Kakashi, causing the masked man to twirl around in shock only to see Sakura crouching on the iron hand railing. As Kakashi looked between the two, wondering how they got up so fast the door opened and Naruto joined them.

"Okay." Kakashi said, deciding to wait until after the introductions before getting his answers. "Let's start with you introducing yourselves."

"What do you want to know?" Sakura asked as she sat down beside Sasuke.

"Eh likes, dislikes, dreams for the future." Kakashi shrugged. "That kind of thing."

"You go first!" Sasuke told Kakashi. "We already know each other."

"Me? Alright." Kakashi said as he blew out in an overly dramatic fashion. "My name is Kakashi Hatake! I have no desire to tell you my likes or dislikes... Dreams for the future, hmm... I have lots of hobbies."

"Whoa, you need to get a life!" Sasuke stated bluntly. "Hope I'm not that dull when I hit forty."

"Right, let's start from the right." Kakashi ground out, resisting the urge to hit the cheeky little brat.

"My name's Naruto Uzumaki." Naruto began. "I like books, ramen, new alchemy theories... and cute girls. I hate milk, people who think I am... small, getting my automail repaired, and fake Philosopher Stones. My dream, to acquire the Philosopher's Stone! My hobby... Studying alchemy I guess."

"Right." Said Kakashi, wondering what on earth automail, alchemy or a Philosopher's Stone was. "Next."

"Name's Sasuke." Sasuke announced, appearing to clean under his nails. "I like pizza, tomatoes, tomatoes on pizza, booze, babes and things that make my enemies go bang... I love to party, the sicker the sweeter. I don't like Devils, Fuckers-that-force-you-to-watch-the-murder-of-your-clan-twice-and-don't-have-the-common-decency-to-kill-you-afterwards, Demons, having no pizza and being bored. Dreams for the future, to keep life interesting I guess."

"O-kay." Kakashi said slowly, wondering how difficult it'd be to get Sasuke a session or three with a shrink. "And lastly, the girl."

"Our name is Venom, for that is what we spit upon the wicked. We like Chocolate, the innocent, Sasuke... and maybe Naruto. “Sakura said. “We hate... SPIDER-MAN, those who harm the innocent, PARKER and loud noises. Our dream... To keep this bond forever."

"Sakura don't you mean ''I/my" and why do you call yourself 'Venom'?" Kakashi asked, wondering if he could get a discount if he booked Sasuke's and Sakura's appointments together.

"Because..." Sakura began as her dress turned into a thick, black inky substance and spread over her body. As it stopped it took the form of a tight, black complete bodysuit with large white markings on the face and a massive white spider on the torso. As she resumed speaking Kakashi saw that the mask had a mouth. A mouth filled with more fangs than Pakkun had and a tongue that would make Orochimaru feel inadequate. "... It is our name!"

"Holy FuckNuggets!" Kakashi screamed as he fell on his ass in fright. Before he could attack, or flee in terror, the suit turned back into Sakura's normal dress.

"Are you okay Sensei?" She asked concern on her face.

"Y-Yeah." Kakashi said, trying to make sense of what he'd just seen. When he noticed a small smirk on Naruto's face he realised what was going on, they'd pranked him. Naruto must have convinced his team mates to do this since it matched his profile. That meant he'd inherited his Father's leadership skills... And his Mother's twisted sense of humour. "W-Well, meet me tomorrow for survival training. If you pass, you become my students. Fail and you go back to the Academy... All you need to know is here on these sheets."

"Sounds like it'll be a hell of a party." Sasuke laughed as he read. "I'll bring a few cool party favours."

"Thought it was too easy to pass." Naruto noted as he read his sheet.

"We shall meet you there." Sakura said as she rose, her fists being covered in the thin inly substance to form a pair of black gloves with a white patch on the back of the hand. As Kakashi tried, and failed, to dispel whatever genjutsu she was using Sakura hopped over the railing and fired a thick white substance from the back of her hand and swung down to the Academy grounds. "Bye."

As Kakashi tried to rationalise what he'd just seen a mass of red crossed his field of vision and hopped over the railing as well.

"Talk to you later." Sasuke called back as he fell several storeys and landed without any sign of injury.

"You sure you're okay?" Naruto asked from the doorway. "You seem kinda... off."

"Yeah." Kakashi said, wondering if was the one who needed to see a shrink. "Eh, don't forget to skip breakfast or you'll throw up."

XX Third Training Ground, Konoha; Fire Country XX

"Hey guys, good morning!" Kakashi called as he arrived at the Third Training Ground. Under the shade of one of the larger threes, Kakashi saw two of his potential students/minions sitting. "Where's Sakura?"

"Oh, so you finally got here." Naruto said, putting away the book he'd been reading. Sasuke simply gave a lazy wave before getting up and pulling this huge sword out of the tree trunk behind him. "Eh Sakura? She was here earlier..."

"Hi Sensei!" Sakura yelled right behind Kakashi. Once again Kakashi wondered how she managed to sneak up on him. "So, when does the Survival Training start?"

"In a minute." Kakashi told her, ideally noticing how none seemed to be showing any sign of hunger... Or annoyance at his being late. "First let me explain how it it'll work."

Kakashi removed a small alarm clock from one of his pouches and set it to sound at noon. After that he set a pair of packed lunches aside. He also removed a pair of bells, trying to remember what Minato had had said when he gave the test.

"Okay, it's set for noon." Kakashi said, pointing towards the clock. "Here are two bells. Your task is to take these bells from me before the times up! Those who don't have a bell by noon... Get no lunch. You'll be tied to one of the stumps over there and forced to watch while we eat."

"So that's why you didn't want us to eat!" Naruto pointed out.

"That’s right." Kakashi said with a smile, not that anyone could notice with the mask. "Now you only have to get one bell. There are only two, so one of you will definitely be tied to a stump. Oh and the person who doesn't take a bell fails. So at least one person is going back to the Academy."

"So take a bell, have lunch, avoid having to listen to those lectures for another year?" Sasuke summarised. "Anything else?"

"Yeah. If you want you can use shuriken and kunai." Kakashi told them. "You won't succeed unless you come at me intending to kill... Ready and GO!"

No sooner then he said go, Kakashi found himself forced to dodge as Sasuke shot forward and brought his massive sword down in an overhead swing. Lunging to the side, Kakashi was shocked to see the blade leave a short but deep groove in the earth.

"Just how strong is he?" Kakashi wondered before his survival instincts screamed 'dodge'. Jumping backwards, Kakashi just barely evaded being captured as the earth beneath him snapped up like a bear trap. Looking for the source of the doton jutsu responsible, Kakashi noticed Naruto kneeling with his hands planted on the ground. "Where did he learn such a powerful doton?"

"We have you now!" Sakura roared, once again in that monstrous form, as she fired two strands of that strange white substance. With no other option while in mid-air, Kakashi preformed a Replacement Jutsu.

XX Forest Surrounding The Training Ground, Konoha; Fire Country XX

"Interesting." Kakashi muttered to himself as he sat high up in a tree. "They each attacked individually, but in such a way that each set up the next one... But was it teamwork or just coincidence?"

"Coincidence." Something growled above Kakashi. Looking up Kakashi snapped his left arm up to defend against an incoming kick.

"Fuck." Kakashi cursed as he felt both his ulna and radius break from the force. The kick had forced him from the tree and he barely had time to recover before Sakura was on him, aiming kicks and punches at his face. She was showing a speed and power rarely seen outside skilled taijutsu specialists, even Guy's apprentice couldn't match it. It was only Kakashi's skill and experience that allowed him to evade and counter each strike. "Dammit, gotta fall back and formulate a plan!"

Using his free hand, Kakashi retrieved and armed a Flash-Bang. As he retreated the Flash-Bang detonated, causing Sakura to scream in rage and pain. When he was sure he'd escaped, Kakashi stopped to try and splint his damaged arm. As he finished, Kakashi heard a crackle of electricity and rolled to the side as the earth beneath him warped again to try and trap him.

"Damn, missed again." Naruto sighed as he clapped his hands together before slamming his right hand to the ground, as he brought his hand back up Kakashi's visible eye widened in shock. Somehow Naruto had created a solid metal spear and was adopting a fairly loose stance. "Guess I have to do it the hard way."

"That level of doton is beyond anything this village could teach... Not even the Hokage could pull that off!" Kakashi gasped, before drawing a kunai to parry a blow. Naruto seemed to be the complete opposite of Sakura. While she was insanely fast and powerful, she was rather unskilled and had difficulty dealing with Kakashi's experienced fighting style. Naruto on the other hand was quite skilled with the spear, something not taught to Shinobi in Konoha, but appeared to be only slightly stronger then he should be. He used quick jabs and wide, slicing swipes to try and control Kakashi's actions and was easily able to block with the shaft of the spear. Naruto's skill reminded Kakashi of Asuma's display with a Shakujo, which he'd learned at the Fire Temple. After nearly fifteen minutes of striking, feinting and counter-attacks Naruto got through Kakashi's defence and pierced the man's flak jacket. Ignoring the rush of pain, Kakashi struck a blow to the back of his opponent's neck to knock him out. Panting slightly, Kakashi ran his finger along the gash Naruto had made in his flak jacket. Upon inspection, Kakashi wasn't surprised to find them stained with blood.

"A genin made me bleed!" He muttered before preforming the Replacement Jutsu. No sooner had he then the log he'd swapped with was torn apart as a dozen thunderclaps sounded from the tree line. As Sasuke emerged from his hiding space he took aim with what Kakashi thought were a pair of partially assembled hand crossbows and fired. Lunging from the branch he'd hidden on, Kakashi pulled up his Forehead Protector and revealed his sharingan. "To think I need this against a genin. I'll need to finish this fast."

With his sharingan Kakashi was able to track the small, metallic slugs Sasuke was firing. This made dodging even easier and finally Sasuke decided to engage up close with that sword of his. As Kakashi dodged and parried, being forced to discard the kunai afterwards as they ended up badly damaged by the force, Kakashi used his Sharingan to copy Sasuke's sword technique. Kakashi didn't know if knowing how to handle a Kiri style Great Sword would come in handy in the future, but you never know. The longer the fight lasted, the more Kakashi realised that Sasuke wasn't using chakra. Not to boost his reflexes or to enhance his physical strength. This meant that in a battle of attrition, Sasuke had the advantage. Kakashi had only one good arm thanks to Sakura, was tired from his extended fight with Naruto and now burning through his chakra. A groan from Naruto alerted him to just how much time had passed.

"Must nearly be time now. Just gotta last until the alarm rings." He panted as he dodged a swing that would have taken his head off. Deciding to retreat again and wait Kakashi let fly with a dozen shuriken. Sasuke managed to shoot eleven of them out of the air, but took the twelfth to the throat. "Shit!"

As Kakashi rushed forward to check on his downed student he felt something slam into his chest and knock him to the ground. A loud bang followed and as Kakashi tried to sit up he saw Sasuke get to his feet and rip the shuriken out. As he approached Kakashi, Sasuke stored what looked like a pair of short tubes fitted into a wooden stock into a holster across the small of his back. Before Kakashi could recover he was struck be several bursts of Sakura's sticky substance and pinned down.

"Hey Sakura." Sasuke greeted as he took the bells. "You alright Naruto?"

"Yeah." Naruto answered, rubbing his neck as he approached. "You okay?"

"Yep." Sasuke said before throwing the two bells into the air and slashing at them four times. He then snatched the pieces out of the air. He held out his hand, inviting Naruto and Sakura to take some of the pieces. "There. We each have two pieces, so do we pass?"

"Yeah." Kakashi sighed, closing his eyes and beginning to pass out. "To finish the test... Just take me to the hospital."

XX Konoha Hospital, Konoha; Fire Country XX

Guy marched through the hospital like a man on a mission, most likely because he was on one. It was a self-appointed mission, to find his hip rival and ensure the man was okay. When word had reached the Hokage's office, were Guy had been handing in a mission report, that the great Kakashi Hatake had been forced to visit the hospital due to injuries acquired against his would-be Genin team no one believed it. After checking with the nurse at the front desk, and learning that Kakashi really had been admitted, Guy had rushed to see his wounded comrade. On the way he passed three children, who judging by their age and the forehead protectors they possessed appeared to be Genin. Two of them, a short blond haired boy and a taller raven-haired youth, were arguing if science or sorcery was better. The third, a pink haired girl, was listening to them while eating one of the bars of chocolate the Akimichi sold in their stores.

"The flames of your students' Youth most burn brightly for them to have put you here." Guy laughed as he opened the door to Kakashi's room and entered. Guy froze when he saw Kakashi. His eyes had dark rings around them, he looked pale and sickly and was showing other signs of chakra exhaustion. His chest was covered by a large collection of bruises, his right side was covered in padding and gaze and his right arm was in a cast and sling. These signs of injury were nothing compared to the shock of seeing Kakashi without a shirt, and so by extension the mask that was part of his under-shirt, and that something other than 'Make-Out Paradise' was in his free hand.

Kakashi had pulled over the tray you placed your dinner on and had covered it in scrolls and sheets of paper. He was scribbling on the sheets and muttering to himself. Looking closer Guy saw the scrolls detailed some of the different kenjutsu styles that came from Kiri and Water Country.

"Guy, one of your students uses weapons right?" Kakashi said by way of greeting. He then began to sketch something on one of the sheets.

"Why yes, Tenten." Guy answered. "Why do you want to know?"

"Because one of my students managed to use a Kiri style Great Sword to cut my bells into pieces, with one hand!" Kakashi exclaimed as he handed over the sheet he'd been sketching on. On it were three images of the dark haired boy Guy had passed in the corridor. In one picture he was carrying a sword almost as large as he was. In another he had what appeared to be a pair of partially assembled mini-crossbows, a note beside this image said that each pull of the trigger fired a small metal slug at high speed and that it was quite accurate. The third and final picture showed him with what seemed to be a pair of short tubes fitted into a wooden stock and had a note that said it fired a collection of metal balls which hurt like a bitch. "I've asked people in ANBU, they say it can't be done! The blade is just too large to cut through the bells that easily."

"You want me to ask Tenten if she knows how to do it?" Guy asked, somewhat worried about his friend's mind. "And do you want me to show these to Tenten to see if she knows what they are?"

"Yeah." Kakashi answered. "I gotta tell you Guy, my team is gonna be a real nightmare."

**_XXXXX_ **

**_So this covers the introduction and testing of Team Nightmare. Next chapter will cover the events in Wave, will be pretty short._ **

**_I'm dyslexic, so please point out any mistakes in spelling or grammar [I spell things the way they do in England and Ireland, so some things may look off to Americans]. Please leave your opinion via review or send them via PM, I'd like to know what you think. Well, I think that's everything I've gotta say so, hope you enjoyed the chapter._ **

**_This is Highvalour saying bye and thanks for reading_ ** **_._ **

****


	2. Wave, Lovely Place For A Vacation

**_Originally written between May 31 st and June 8th 2012, here we see Team Nightmare dealing with Wave Country._ **

**_Barring spelling mistakes I noticed afterwards no changes have been made since this stuff was originally written… This story is a timeline charting my growth as a writer, and that’s just sad!_ **

**_All Intellectual Properties Belong To Their Rightful Owners_ **

**_XXXXX_ **

****

XX Forest Surrounding Konoha, Konoha; Fire Country XX

"What's your distance to the target?" Kakashi asked into his headset. He ideally wondered what the little monsters would do this time, last mission Naruto had put the client in the hospital after the little old lady who'd hired them to de-weed her garden called him a 'stupid little boy' for ripping up some herbs. The time before that Sasuke had opened fire with those 'gun' things in a crowded market after one idiot muttered 'demon' while passing Naruto. Maybe it would be Sakura this time, she hadn't cost them a mission yet. If she did mess up maybe people would start believing him whenever he said she was some kind of monster.

"Five meters! I'm ready to go!" Naruto reported back.

"As are we." Was Sakura's reply.

"Ahh, dammit! Stand still and take it like a cat!" Yelled Sasuke before a string of bangs rang out.

"I got it!" Naruto shouted before an ominous boom and the sound of raining debris could be heard in the distance.

"You are ours!" Came a monstrous roar that told Kakashi that Sakura had transformed.

Letting out a long suffering sigh, Kakashi made his way to his 'students'. When he reached them he found Sakura inspecting Sasuke's face for something while Naruto held their target by the scruff of the neck.

"What happened this time?" Kakashi asked.

"It scratched out my eye!" Sasuke roared glaring at the cat, with both eyes. "It's a good job it grew back."

"Uhuh." Kakashi sighed before taking the cat from Naruto. "Let's just finish the damn mission."

XX Hokage's Tower, Konoha; Fire Country XX

Oh, my little Tora. I was so worried!" Cooed the Fire Daimyo's wife.

"I still say we should have dropped it in the Inuzuka kennels and put bets on how long it lasted." Sasuke whispered. "But seeing how the owner acts, I'm kinda glad we found the cat."

"Now Team Seven for your next mission..." The Hokage began once the Daimyo's wife had left. "... Babysitting an Elder's Grandson, shopping in a neighbouring village or helping with the potato picking?"

"Oh come on! Give us something interesting old man!" Sasuke exclaimed. "We kicked the Cyclops' ass! Surely that qualifies us for something a little more exciting than looking after that scarf wearing brat you call a grandkid?"

"..."

"Eh... What my team mate meant was..." Naruto said, breaking the silence that had fallen on the room after Sasuke challenged the Hokage. "That maybe the basic missions don't quite make full use of our talents... And that perhaps we could do better work on more important tasks?"

"Yeah, our skills are wasted on these silly chores." Sakura agreed.

"Fine." The Hokage sighed as he reached for a mission that would see the team make a round trip to Wave Country. He was agreeing for two reasons. One, it was clear that all three would argue and he didn't want to deal with that and two, it would mean at least a week without Kakashi ambushing any active Shinobi with the physical strength or kenjutsu skills required to use a Kiri style Great Sword and make them try and re-create an impossible cut. A physical blade was just too thick to make a cut that fine... Asuma's chakra blades could manage it but nothing else could do it. Yes, with Kakashi gone for a week productivity should increase. "I'll give you a C-Rank mission. It's a protection mission for a certain individual."

"Lord Hokage, are you sure this is a good idea?" Iruka asked.

"It will be fine." The Hokage assured the Chunin. "Send in the client."

"What's this?" Muttered a man who entered through the door behind the team. "You sure are a bunch of super brats... Especially the short one with the stupid looking face. Are you really a ninja?"

"Who are you calling so microscopic that you need a tele-urk..." Naruto yelled throwing himself at the man before close-lining himself on Sasuke's extended arm. Both Sasuke and Sakura then sat on the enraged blond, pinning him down while he trashed about and yelled obscenities that would make a Kiri sailor blush.

"Hey dumbass." Sasuke said, fixing the man with an intense glare. "Don't use the S-word."

"Eh right..." The man said, somewhat taken aback by what he'd just seen. "I-I'm the master bridge builder, Tazuna. I expect you to provide..."

"Question!" Sakura interrupted. "What's the difference between a bridge and a master bridge?"

"...Eh." Tazuna said in confusion. "Look, just get me home and keep me save until I finish the bridge."

"Whatever." Sasuke sighed as he got off Naruto. "You guys wanna get something to eat?"

"Sure." Came the replies.

"Before I go, I feel I should point out that today may be the last time we are required to captured Tora the cat!" Kakashi said as he watches the trio leave.

"What? Why?" The Hokage asked, concerned over one of the Village's most reliable income sources.

"Why? Why? I'll tell you why!" Kakashi said, his voice getting higher as he spoke. "It's because you sent a psychopath, an earth bender and the devil itself out and ended up terrifying the damn cat!"

"Hey! I take offence to being called the devil!" Sasuke called back from the hallway.

"I wasn't talking about you with that one!" Kakashi shouted before taking the mission scroll and turning to Tazuna. "Come on, I'm gonna need to plan a route that you can travel while still getting us there as quickly as possible."

XX A Random Road In Fire Country XX

Team Seven made its way down an empty country road. Kakashi had his nose buried in his book, Naruto doing something similar. Sasuke was whistling a tune and Sakura was eating a large bar of chocolate. In fact the only one who seemed to be paying any attention to their surroundings was the constantly drunk Tazuna. None of the group paid any attention as they passed a puddle in the middle of a road that hadn't seen rain in days. It was this apparent lack of attention that allowed Gozu and Meizu, the Demon Brothers of Kiri, to attack Kakashi. As the shredded chunks of Kakashi's body fell to the ground the brothers rushed forward. As Gozu moved to strike at Sasuke he noticed that his gauntlet, and presumably the arm inside it, flying off in another direction.

Sasuke adjusted his grip on Rebellion and struck Gozu with the flat of the blade, stunning him long enough for Naruto's Alchemy to trap him. Meizu seeing his brother's defeat cursed in rage and turned to avenge Gozu only for a black clawed fist to connect with the side of his head, knocking him into a tree with enough force to give him a concussion.

"Stay!" Sakura growled as she fired several shots of impact webbing to prevent Meizu from moving.

"It’s all clear, you can stop hiding like a chicken now!" Sasuke called.

"Well done team, very good." Kakashi laughed as he stepped out from behind a tree. "And I wasn't hiding, I was merely waiting to see who their target was."

"Whatever, I'll find out everything we could want to know in a minute." Sasuke said as he drew Coyote-A and fired at the tree Meizu was stuck to, destroying a chunk of the bark. "Talk!"

"Okay, but my info will be a few years old." Meizu squeaked before revealing everything. He told them troop numbers, Clan vs. Civilian ratios, kekkei genkais that Kiri still had in relation to those that had died out because of the citizen mobs that had formed around Water Country to hunt down kekkei genkai users, in-depth character Biographies of the most well-known or powerful living Kiri Shinobi, loyal or otherwise, and confirmed that the current Mizukage was in fact the host of the Sanbi. "And Utakata, the host of the Rokubi, is currently a Missing-Nin. Our information hints at him having taken refuge in Tsuckigumo Village."

"You get all that?" Sasuke asked Naruto, who'd been transcribing everything.

"More or less." Naruto answered before turning to Meizu. "He meant talk about why you attacked us."

"The old guy... We were ordered to kill the old guy." Meizu said quickly when Sasuke levelled Coyote-A at him.

"By who?" Kakashi asked, turning to glare at Tazuna.

"Zabuza Momochi. We work for Zabuza Momochi." Meizu told them. "But Gato, of Gato Company, is the client we're being paid by."

"This mission just became an A-Rank." Kakashi announced. "Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of the Hidden Mist, is a Jonin level Missing-Nin and well above your level. This mission is over!"

"Could you beat him?" Sasuke asked.

"Perhaps. But it would be close." Kakashi admitted.

"Well, we kicked you ass. It shouldn't be too tough." Sasuke stated before turning to Tazuna. "Let’s get going."

"Hey I'm in charge here and you will do what I say!" Kakashi exclaimed as Naruto and Sakura followed Sasuke and Tazuna.

"Doesn't look that way to me." Meizu mocked.

"Shut up." Kakashi told him as he wrote out a quick mission update and summoned a dog to deliver it to Konoha. "Now sit here and wait. If you're lucky, ANBU will arrive before your brother dies from his injuries."

XX A Random Road in Wave Country XX

"So ... Who knows how to make rabbit stew?" Sasuke asked as he looked down at the small snow rabbit Naruto had killed with a shuriken.

"I could have sworn someone was there." Naruto defended himself.

"I'm serious. Who knows how to make rabbit stew?" Sasuke said.

"Everybody, get down!" Kakashi yelled as a huge cleaver embedded itself in a tree. "Well, well... If it isn't Kiri's Missing-Nin Zabuza Momochi!"

"You appear to be Sharingan Kakashi." Zabuza growled. "Sorry, but the old man is-"

"Dibs!" Sasuke called.

"What's the big idea interrupting me?" Zabuza growled.

"I was calling Dibs." Sasuke said as he walked forward and drew Rebellion. He was a few feet from the tree Sasuke stopped and turned back to his team. "That means you guys stay out of this!"

"First rule of being a Shinobi." Zabuza said as he brought the cleaver down onto Sasuke's shoulder, cutting straight through all the way to his hip bone. "Is never take your eyes off your opponent!"

"First rule of demon hunting... Never take your eyes off your opponent." Sasuke gasped before swinging Rebellion in the hope of returning the favour. "Unless you know it can't kill you."

With that Sasuke ripped Zabuza's blade from his body and hurled it behind him. Sasuke waited until his body had completely healed before rushing at Zabuza who was forced to dodge or block with kunai. When Zabuza managed to recover his sword the two clashed in an impressive display of swordsmanship. As the two separated after a while, Zabuza spoke.

"Not bad kid, you've got skill." Zabuza complemented. "What's your sword style? I don't recognise it."

"My sword style? I haven't begun to use it... Swordmaster!" Sasuke declared as his body flashed a deep red. He then charged and renewed his attacks, displaying even more skill then before. Seeing that he might be outclassed, Zabuza broke away.

"Too good. Have to just kill the old man and retreat." Zabuza muttered before moving to attack Tazuna. Naruto moved to block him. "Out of the way you little shit!"

"Little! WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO MINUTE THAT HE'S INVISIBLE TO THE NAKED EYE AND COULD BE STEPPED ON BY AN ANT!" Naruto roared as he struck Zabuza with a vicious headbutt. He then began to pummel the startled Kiri Nin. Caught off guard the only way Zabuza could think to do was throw Naruto into the nearby lake.

"What are the odds of all three being insanely overpowered?" Zabuza asked himself as he tried to attack Tazuna again, this time through Sakura. Although, in hindsight, the fact that Kakashi actually stepped away from her should of been a clue. As he brought the sword down, the Venom Symbiote formed around her and allowed her to catch the blade with one hand. She then delivered a kick that sent Zabuza flying across the clearing and through a tree.

Whimpering and crawling away, Zabuza tried to escape the three Genin as they closed in. He silently thanked Haku when the senbon embedded themselves in his neck.

"You’re...Your t-team..." Tazuna stammered from beside Kakashi.

"Yeah, I know... Welcome to my life." Kakashi told the terrified man. "Dammit! I didn't think to ask him if he would attempt the bell trick!"

"Thank you very much." The masked ninja called from the three he was hidden in. "I have been searching for the opportunity to kill Zabuza for a long time"

"The hell!" Sasuke roared. "Nobody ever tell you it's rude to kill steal?"

"I'm sorry." The masked ninja said a bit surprised at Sasuke's reaction. "I am a Hunter-Nin from Kiri. I have been tasked with killing the Missing-Nin Zabuza Momochi, thank you for weakening him for me. I must now dispose of the body as it contains many secrets!"

"Yeah whatever." Naruto said as he began rooting though Zabuza's pockets. "First we're gonna loot it. I call his wallet!"

"We want his supplies!" Sakura said as she moved to join Naruto.

"Leave me the forehead protector!" Sasuke yelled as he picked up the man's sword and rested it across his shoulders.

"Wait! Stop! Those are property of Kiri!" The masked ninja yelled in panic

"Well this isn't Kiri. So shut up!" Sasuke snapped as he finished tying Zabuza's forehead protector to his belt. "What do you think guys? Start of a collection?"

"Looks good." Sakura told him as she stored all of Zabuza's scrolls in the symbiote. "Looks a little bare though. We think you should add more!"

"Yeah, your belt can be our trophy rack!" Naruto agreed as he counted Zabuza's money.

"Shouldn't you stop them?" Tazuna asked Kakashi. "I mean it isn't very respectful."

"Konoha is a shinobi village, not a samurai clan!" Kakashi pointed out. "Respecting our enemy's corpse isn't something we normally do... Besides do you want to tell them to put that stuff back?"

"Nope!" Tazuna gulped quickly, watching as Naruto and Sasuke tossed the nearly naked corpse of their foe at the Hunter-Nin.

"Thought so." Kakashi said as the Hunter-Nin vanished with the corpse. "Something is wrong here, I'm just not sure what?"

"What? Like the fact that the highly skilled jonin is constantly being shown up by the rookies?" Sasuke joked as the trio approached with their newly acquired gear. "You any good with storage seals?"

"Yeah, why?" Kakashi asked as the group set off towards Tazuna's house. "And it isn't that!"

"Sure it isn't." Naruto agreed sarcastically. "And I'd imagine he wants you to store that sword for him."

"Yeah, I mean I look kinda dumb walking around with two huge swords." Sasuke said. "And you sure it isn't that we keep showing you up?"

"Yes I'm sure it isn't that you keep showing me up!" Kakashi snapped. "Forget it, can't be that important anyway."

XX Nearby Clearing; Wave Country XX

"Are you okay Master Zabuza?" Haku asked as he removed the senbon from the man's neck.

"Nothing is bruised apart from my ego, my ribs, my chest, my biceps, my quads, a few internal organs and my left pinkie." Zabuza answered before looking down at himself to inspect the damage. "... Why did you strip me?"

"I... I didn't." Haku admitted. "Those Konoha shinobi looted your 'corpse'. I tried to stop them but the dark-haired one tried to behead me with your Executioner's Blade every time I tried to get close. I'm sorry."

"It's fine. To get away with just this mild humiliation after facing such a team is okay." Zabuza grunted as he sat up.

What do you mean Master Zabuza?" Haku asked.

"That boy! The way he fought, the power and aggression. He was clearly of Konoha's infamous Uchiha Clan! But the way he healed..." Zabuza explained. "It was beyond anything Tsunade of the Sannin is known for. In fact, the only man I've ever heard of that could heal that way was Hashirama Senju."

"The First Hokage?" Haku gasped.

"Yes. And if Konoha has managed to combine his physical power and healing with the innate combat abilities and eyes of the Uchiha, I think avoiding any action that draws their ire would be wise." Zabuza warned. "And then there was the girl, you saw the clan markings right?"

"The circles?" Haku guessed. "I-I don't recognise that clan symbol."

"Not on the dress, on the thing she became!" Zabuza snapped. "It was the spider crest of the Tsuchigumo clan, I'm sure of it... That means she must be the barer of their kinjutsu! And with Kakashi Hatake there as well, you have no idea how lucky we were Haku."

"I-I see!" Haku stuttered realising just how powerful that team had truly been. "But what of the blond one?"

"Him... I'm not sure." Zabuza admitted as he staggered back towards their hideout. "But you can be sure of one thing... If he's on that team, he must be a real powerhouse as well."

"Of course." Haku agreed. "What do we do now?"

"We return to base, gather everything we can and retreat." Zabuza told him. "I heard Yuki is recruiting. With my combat record and your kekkei genkai, we should have no trouble getting high ranking positions."

XX Tazuna's House; Wave Country XX

"You're all going to die!" Inari said simply. "There's no way you can win against Gato."

"Charming kid you got there." Sasuke said to Tsunami once her son stormed off. Reaching into his pack, Sasuke removed a large bottle of whiskey. "So anyway, I think that our victory against our first A-Rank shinobi, who isn't from Konoha and meant to be training us, deserves a little celebration. Hey old guy, got any glasses?"

"Eh... I'll go check." Tazuna said before hurrying to the kitchen in search of glasses.

"You're not old enough to drink!" Tsunami said as she tried to take the whiskey from him. She froze when Sasuke pressed Coyote-A into her stomach.

"Konoha thinks I'm old enough to work for its reputation, kill for its glory and die for its cause... So I think I'm old enough to enjoy myself!" Sasuke told her before holstering Coyote-A. Once she'd backed away enough Sasuke turned to Kakashi. "You want some?"

"Yeah... Why not." Kakashi sighed, feeling a headache beginning to form.

"Here, they're all I could find." Tazuna said coming back in with four small glasses.

"Not a problem. I'll drink from the bottle." Sasuke laughed before filling the four glasses to the brim. "Now a toast... We're alive, the other guy isn't. Good day!"

With that Sasuke brought the bottle to his lips and began to gulp down the alcohol. Tazuna, a hard drinker himself and not wanting to be shown up by a kid, downed his glass in one go. Kakashi, also not wanting to be shown up, did his usual trick of lowering his mask, downing the drink in one go and returning his mask to its normal position. Both regretted trying to drink like the Uchiha as the burning sensation of the whiskey caused them to spray the drink back out and break into a coughing fit. Tazuna covered the small table they were sitting around in saliva and whiskey while Kakashi's mask prevented him from spraying anything other than itself.

Naruto and Sakura, both more familiar with their Uchiha team mate's alcoholic preferences, wisely sipped at the liquid. As the group relaxed Naruto asked Tsunami what was the deal with Inari and why he was convinced that Gato was unbeatable.

"Inari had a father, not related by blood but they were very close. Like a real father and son. Inari use to laugh a lot back then... But that all changed with the incident." Tazuna said staring down into his empty glass. "The word 'courage' has been stolen from the people of this island. And from Inari... All because of Kaiza and the incident."

"What incident? And who is this Kaiza" Sakura asked leaning forward to empty her glass into his own.

"Thank you." Tazuna said before he explained who Kaiza was and how he became such an important part of Inari's life. "Kaiza was called a hero by the people of the city. Inari couldn't have been prouder of his father. But Gato came to the city..."

"What happened?" Naruto asked. "What did Gato do?"

"In front of everyone, Kaiza was put to death by Gato." Tazuna told them. "He cut off Taiza's arms and then killed him in front of the whole village. Inari... Inari saw the man he called father die. He saw his hero cut down."

"Hehe, nice story. This Gato guy sounds like my kind of guy." Sasuke said, his voice cold and harsh. The air grew heavy, tainted with bloodlust and a desire to hurt. To kill. To destroy. A red haze had begun to radiate from his body and his eyes seemed to have developed a yellowish hue. "Where does he hang out anyway?"

"H-He's taken over the governor's manor on the north side of the island." A terrified Tsunami squeaked out when Tazuna couldn't find the words to do so himself.

"Cool." Sasuke growled. He set the half empty bottle on the table and made his way to the door, pausing long enough to put on his shoes. "I'm gonna go for a walk. You gonna be okay to hold down the fort sensei?"

"A quick walk before dinner sounds good." Naruto said, rising and putting his coat on. "I think I'll come with."

"We drank too much. We could do with some air." Sakura announced as she rose as well. "We'll come with you as well."

Once they had entered the forest near Tazuna's house they stopped. Sakura's symbiote formed around her and Sasuke's body flashed yellow, entering his Trickster style. Sakura crouched slightly and Naruto climbed on, wrapping his arms around her neck. Once he was secure she lunged towards the nearest tree, sticking to it and climbing. Once she was high enough Sakura leapt and began to swing from tree to tree using her webbing. Sasuke just started running for a moment before he broke into a mad dash, reaching speeds rarely matched by those who did not wear green spandex.

As the trio moved north Kakashi poured himself, Tazuna and Tsunami three large glasses of whiskey. Pulling his mask down to his collar and letting out a sigh, Kakashi took a long sip of whiskey.

"M-Mom... W-What was that?" Inari asked when he entered the room a short while later, still clearly shaken by simply feeling Sasuke's display.

"Proof" Kakashi told Inari as he refilled his own and Tazuna's glasses. "This stuff isn't that bad actually."

"Yeah." Tazuna agreed.

"Proof of what?" Inari asked.

"Simple." Kakashi answered. "That heroes exist. They exist even when they look like monsters."

XX Governor's Manor; Wave Country XX 

"So, that's the plan I got." Naruto told Sasuke and Sakura as they hid just beyond the tree line and out of sight of Gato's thug lookouts. "You guys sure you're okay with it?"

"As long as it works, I don't care." Sasuke snapped. Clearly still in a bad mood.

"We'll do it, but you agree that it is our go next time?" Sakura hissed. She was still angry after hearing Tazuna's tale.

"Yeah, no problem." Naruto agreed. When Sasuke just grunted Naruto turned to him. "What's wrong with you?"

"No one should have to watch a parent be executed." Sasuke snarled. "No one should have their memories of their hero broken, tainted, like that. That Gato would do that pisses me off."

"We'll get him. We'll get him and make him sorry for it." Naruto promised before turning to Sakura. "Better get moving."

"Right." She said before using the symbiote's camouflage ability to vanish from view.

Taking a deep breath Naruto focused and clapped his hands together. When he felt the power of his alchemy he slammed his palms to the ground and manipulated the earth. The walls and guard towers were torn apart as the ground beneath them exploded upward like water from a geyser. As the mercenaries Gato was paying to assist him in terrorising the citizens scrambled about, trying to find the attackers, Naruto slammed his hands down again. This time the earth beneath many of them shot up as eight inch earthen spikes, impaling the legs of many. With the enemy's number cut, and the remainder in a panic, Naruto created a spear and entered the manor grounds. Picking his target Naruto threw his spear. It embedded itself in the chest of a large thug, drawing the attention of the other mercenaries and thugs to Naruto. Quickly making another spear, Naruto began to cut a bloody path through them. The occasional bang told Naruto that Sasuke was gunning down anyone who tried to escape, as he'd agreed to. Very soon the bangs began to come quicker, Gato's little army had realised they were outclassed and began to flee. This made them easy targets for Sasuke's Gunslinger style. Soon no one was left.

"Whoever you are, I can pay you handsomely." Gato pleaded once Sakura dumped him at Naruto's feet. "I'm a very rich man and can give you anything you want... Just let me go, please?"

"Who said we want money?" Sasuke asked as he approached through the dust. The haze and hue had returned and made him look like the devil itself, come to claim Gato for his crimes. "You've done terrible things to the people of this island. You've taken their money. You've taken their freedom. You've taken their courage. And you see, we can't have that... **We won't have that!** "

"W-What do y-you people want?" Gato whimpered, tears running down his checks.

"What do we want?" Sasuke asked, sharing a laugh with Naruto, who'd removed his coat to check on his automail arm, and Sakura, who was leaning over Gato and dripping saliva on him. "We want you to pay the devil his due!"

XX Hokage's Office, Konoha; Fire Country XX

"And that is everything... You haven't left anything out?" Sarutobi asked as he set aside Kakashi's report on his team's first 'C-Rank' mission. "You haven't lied to make your students look good? Or to cover your own ass seeing as how you willingly, and knowingly, brought three rookie genin on what turned out to be an A-Ranked mission?"

"No sir. Everything in there is exactly as it occurred!" Kakashi answered.

"Bullshit!" Was Sarutobi’s elegant reply. "Apart from Naruto's newly emerged issues in relation to his height and Sasuke Uchiha's new, 'trigger happy', attitude no one else has seen anything to confirm your claims of 'insanely talented Earth Manipulation', 'regenerating blood knight tendencies' or 'black skinned hellspawn'. Now, I'll ask one more time... What really happened?"

"It's all true." Kakashi told him. "My genin crippled the Demon Brothers, fought off Zabuza Momochi and killed Gato of Gato Company."

"So you expect me to believe that..." Sarutobi began as he reopened the report and read aloud. "Sasuke called 'dibs' on Zabuza Momochi, was nearly cut in half and then proceeded to overwhelm the leader of the previous 'Seven Swordsmen of Kiri'? That he radiated a power fouler than the Kyuubi or that Naruto managed to slaughter Gato's mercenary army?"

"That's what happened." Kakashi ground out, sick of no one believing him.

"Fine, you can go." Sarutobi sighed. "Wait a minute. Your report said Sasuke took Zabuza's Executioner's Blade, what has he done with it?"

"Mounted it on his wall I think." Kakashi answered from the door. "It's covered in cracks and chipped from the fight... That sword of his can't be natural. He's used it to do things no normal person could."

"Maybe it's magic!" Sarutobi muttered. "Maybe that's why he managed to do that stupid 'bell trick' of yours?"

"Of course!" Kakashi exclaimed before rushing off. "It must be that sword. I'll get him to try with normal swords right now!"

"Dammit Kakashi!" Sarutobi called after the jonin. "I was being sarcastic."

**_XXXXX_ **

**_Huh, I honestly thought the Wave Arc was shorter than this… Memory must be going._ **

**_I'm dyslexic, so please point out any mistakes in spelling or grammar [I spell things the way they do in England and Ireland, so some things may look off to Americans]. Please leave your opinion via review or send them via PM, I'd like to know what you think. Well, I think that's everything I've gotta say so, hope you enjoyed the chapter._ **

**_This is Highvalour saying bye and thanks for reading_ ** **_._ **


	3. Exams Begin

**_Originally written between June 8 th and June 24th 2012._ **

**_Barring spelling mistakes I noticed afterwards no changes have been made since this stuff was originally written… This story is a timeline charting my growth as a writer, and that’s just sad!_ **

**_All Intellectual Properties Belong To Their Rightful Owners_ **

**_XXXXX_ **

XX Streets of Konoha, Konoha; Fire Country – Four Weeks Later XX

"Well that was dull." Naruto complained as Team Seven finished their latest mission. "When can we do a real mission again?"

"As soon as the rest of the village believes me when I say that you all are insanely powerful." Kakashi sighed before turning to Sasuke. "And that might happen if you showed you can cut bells when I ask you to."

"I'm not a preforming monkey!" Sasuke snapped. "Besides, it's not my fault none of you have the basic skills required to cut something with a bladed weapon."

"We can! It's just no one can make the cuts that thin!" Kakashi told him before noticing a messenger hawk overhead. "Right, well I gotta go and hand in the report."

"Right. I'm gonna go get something to eat, see you guys later." Sasuke said as he turned to leave. "Oh and Naruto, the brat with the scarf is back."

"Huh? Dammit Konohamaru, rocks aren't perfect squares! Nor do they have eye holes!" Naruto sighed.

"Hey Boss, wanna play ninja with us?" Konohamaru asked.

"Not right now." Naruto answered but seeing the children's faces fall was quick to add. "I am on my way to the BBQ restaurant, you guys want to come?"

"You bet Boss!" Konohamaru yelled before turning and running off. "Race you there."

"Haha, okay you get a ten second head start!" Naruto called after the three kids.

"The innocence of youth." Sakura sighed as she watched the three kids rush off. "We hope they can keep that for as long as possible."

"Here's hoping." Naruto agreed before holding up a wallet. "You wanna come, Zabuza's paying?"

When the two of them caught up with Konohamaru and his friends they were being threatened by a black clad teen from Suna. He had a grip of Konohamaru by the scarf and was preparing to punch the boy.

"Oi! Leave him alone!" Naruto ordered.

"Put him down!" Sakura hissed.

"Huh? Konoha genin, weak." The boy said dismissively. Behind him stood an older, blonde haired girl.

"Kankuro, leave it." The girl told him. "You're just gonna cause trouble for later."

"I hate brats, especially rude brats." The boy snapped. "So I'm gonna teach this brat a lesson and after that I'll teach that blond brat one too."

A blur of red rushed past and snatched Konohamaru from the boy's hand before his fist could connect with the child's face. As he came skidding to a halt beside his team mates, Sasuke dropped Konohamaru on his ass and turned to face the boy.

"Something tells me you aren’t from around here." Sasuke sneered as he reached up to grip Rebellion's handle. Beside him Sakura adjusted her stance, so she could lunge forward and strike, while Naruto put his hands together, in case he needed to use Alchemy. "So, what the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Talk about clueless." The girl sighed as she removed a pass from a kunai pouch. "We're here for the Chunin Exams, duh."

"I figured that's why you were in the village." Naruto lied easily. "I think my friend meant what are you doing here about to punch the Hokage's grandson?"

"Yeah, they don't give out passes that let you hurt the Hokage's grandson!" Sakura pointed out.

"And trust me, I've tried to get one." Sasuke added, causing Konohamaru to shoot him a dirty look.

"I don't know how things work in Suna, but here trying to attack our Kage's grandkid tends to be treated as an act of war!" Naruto told them as he shared a glance with Sasuke, who had a large smile forming on his face.

"Which is great for us, since we were just complaining about how dull things were around here." Sasuke laughed as he rushed forward, drawing Rebellion and thrusting it forward to impale the boy. He'd have managed it too if a blast of sand hadn't knocked Kankuro out of the way, and into the fence beside him. Sasuke stopped the tip of Rebellion less than an inch from the girl's chest, Sasuke then took a moment to look her up and down several times. "Nice!"

"W-What?" She asked taken aback by his comment. Now she knew guys checked her out and that she had a nice body, but usually those guys weren't as obvious when they did it... Nor did they usually look to be about the same age as her youngest brother. Speaking of said brother, she turned to were the sand came from. "Gaara?"

"You're an embarrassment to our village Kankuro!" The boy, Gaara, snapped as he landed down beside the girl. "Sorry for any trouble he caused."

"B-but Gaara, they started it!" Kankuro whined. "T-tell him Temari."

"Shut up... Or I'll kill you." Gaara told the older boy.

"Dammit, what is it with people kill stealing on us?" Sasuke asked his team mates. "I mean there was that guy from Kiri and now this guy!"

"Your eyes... Your eyes are like mine!" Gaara growled at Sasuke.

"Actually my irises are black. It's why you can't notice the pupil." Sasuke corrected as he made his way back to his team mates. "You've got some kinda Yamanaka thing going on... How do you see without a pupil anyway?"

"Funny... What's your name?" Gaara growled again, not looking like he found it funny at all.

"Sasuke, Sasuke Uchiha." Sasuke introduced himself with a mocking bow. "And behind me are Sakura Haruno and Naruto Uzumaki. What's your name?"

"Gaara of the Desert. They are Temari and Kankuro" Was the reply as Gaara turned to leave. "Sasuke Uchiha, I'll enjoy killing you."

"Good luck!" Sasuke yelled after him. "You'll need it!"

XX Hokage's Office, Konoha; Fire Country XX

" I, Kakashi Hatake, nominate the Kakashi led Team Seven, Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki and Sakura Haruno for the Chunin Exams." Kakashi announced in an emotionless voice. Inside however he was dancing. If they passed than he wouldn't need to train them and could do something less stressful and risky, like re-join the ANBU.

"Hold on a minute!" Iruka interrupted after Kurenai and Asuma nominated their teams as well.

"What is it Iruka?" Sarutobi asked.

"Those nine were my students at the academy." Iruka explained. "Now they are talented, but it's too early for them to take the exam, they need more experience!"

"I don't know." Asuma spoke up. "Might scare my lot into actually trying."

"I can't think of many other ways to get them combat experience in a semi-controlled environment." Kurenai added."

"They are not ready!" Iruka argued. "Are you trying to crush these kids?"

"I'll handle this." Kakashi said in a tired voice. Turning to Iruka he raised his forehead protector, revealing his Sharingan. "You agree with Kakashi! His team is ready! Sasuke Uchiha can do the 'bell trick' with any blade you give him!"

"I agree with Kakashi! His team is ready! Sasuke Uchiha can do the 'bell trick' with any blade you give him!" Iruka repeated in a dead tone. His eyes glazed over.

"Hehe, I didn't think that would actually work." Kakashi admitted before thinking of another order to give. "Go get me a sandwich."

As Iruka walked away to get Kakashi a sandwich, Sarutobi buried his head in his hands and groaned.

"Kakashi, don't hypnotise the Chunin." He ordered. "Now are all three of you sure?"

"Yes, the experience will do them good!" Kurenai answered.

"Yeah. With a bit of luck they'll start actually training." Asuma answered.

"If it gets them out of my hair, I'll kill the competition myself!" Kakashi announced, drawing some dodgy looks.

"Ugh." Sarutobi groaned again. He made a mental note to get himself some medicinal pipe weed once the meeting was over.

XX Konoha Academy, Konoha; Fire Country XX

"So the exam's being held here?" Sasuke asked as he met up with his team.

"Yeah." Naruto answered. "Hey Sakura, what did you do to Iruka Sensei?"

"He attacked us in disguise." Sakura told them. "The doctors said he'll recover."

"Why did he attack you?" Sasuke asked as they moved towards the doors.

"Hell if we know!" Sakura answered with a shrug.

"Huh, well you guys looking forward to this? I know I am." Sasuke laughed before kicking the doors of the academy in. "It promises to be one hell of a party!"

The trio made their way through the halls in search of the exam room. On the second floor they came across a large group of competitors being blocked by Kotetsu Hagane and Izumo Kamizuki, who'd transformed into teenage versions of themselves.

"Hahaha, what did you guys do to get demoted?" Naruto laughed as he reached the pair. "I mean really, you guys get the easiest job there is and you still mess up bad enough to have to compete in the exams?"

"It is kind of pathetic." Sakura agreed. "And is that how you two looked at our age?"

"Ha, check it out. Kakashi is sending his brats." Izumo laughed. "Now you three shouldn't be here, you only graduated a few months ago."

"Yeah." Kotetsu chipped in. "Letting those bullshit rumours get to your heads? You don't have a chance!"

"Rumours? You guys been spreading rumours?" Sasuke turned to his team mates and asked.

"We haven't." Sakura denied.

"Nope." Naruto shrugged. "Look, let’s go. I wanna get a good seat on the Third Floor!"

As they tried to move passed the disguised chunin, the trio's path was blocked by a boy in green spandex.

"My name is Rock Lee, and your name is Sakura right?" The boy introduced himself.

"Yes, nice to meet you." Sakura said, giving the boy an odd look.

"Let's go out together!" Lee blurted out, striking a 'Nice Guy' pose. "I'll protect you 'til I die!"

"Eh no!" Sakura said bluntly. "We don't need protecting."

"Hey you!" A Hyuuga that had been standing beside Lee called out. "What's your name?"

"It's generally considered rude to ask someone their name and not give your own." Naruto pointed out.

"I wasn't speaking to you." The Hyuuga snapped dismissively after giving Naruto a quick look over.

"You got a bit of an attitude problem don't you, 'Pale Eyes'!" Sasuke growled as he moved towards the Hyuuga, only to be stopped by Sakura. "Maybe if you be a little nicer, we might answer."

With that, the three bulled passed everyone and set off  in search of the exam room. After spending a short while wondering around a voice rang out.

"Hey, you with the dark eyes!" It yelled. "Will you fight me right here?"

"What?" Sasuke asked turning to see Rock Lee standing on a walkway above them. "How the hell did he get up there ahead of us?"

"My name is Rock Lee." He reintroduced himself after jumping down to their level. "When you want to learn a person's name you introduce yourself first, right?"

"Yeah, I guess." Sasuke admitted, slightly confused. "I'm Sasuke Uchiha. That's Naruto Uzumaki and you already seem to know who Sakura is."

"Yes." Rock Lee said, well it was closer to a yell really. "Now I wish to test myself against someone from a powerful clan like the Uchiha."

"Huh, a little warm up sounds like fun." Sasuke laughed as he reached up to grasp Rebellion's handle. "How much time we got guys?"

"We gotta be in the room sometime within the next thirty minutes." Naruto answered after checking his silver pocket watch. "So you better not drag this out."

"Don't worry, I'll make short work of him." Sasuke quipped before rushing forward to attack.

"You said the 'S' word." Sakura chastised as she caught Naruto in a bear hug to stop him charging after Sasuke and kicking the Uchiha's teeth in.

"Sorry, my bad." Sasuke apologised just before Rock Lee landed a vicious kick to his face, breaking his jawbone.

"You shouldn't take your eyes off your opponent." Lee told him before ducking under Sasuke's retaliatory attack. They continued like this for a time, each avoiding the other's strikes. While it was clear to each that the other was holding back, both found themselves enjoying the spar. They were forced to stop when Lee's sensei intervened.

"Enough." He ordered, catching Lee's axe-kick and deflecting Sasuke's sword thrust with a kunai. "Lee, you started a fight and openly showed your skills... Your punishment will be to do four hundred laps around the practice field after the exams!"

"Four hundred times, huh being a bit generous don't you think?" Sasuke snarked.

"He's right Guy-sensei!" Lee exclaimed. "I'll do six hundred laps!"

"He can't be serious, can he?" Sakura asked Naruto in a hushed whisper.

"I don't know... I think he is." Naruto whispered back.

"And you must be Kakashi's students." Guy beamed at the trio. "I look forward to seeing you all in the exams."

"Guys." Sasuke spoke up once the master and student duo had left. "When did Konoha perfect cloning?"

"It is kinda creepy, isn't it?" Naruto agreed.

"Let's go, we don't wanna be late." Sakura said as she grabbed both boys by an arm and dragged them towards the exam room.

XX Exam Room, Konoha; Fire Country XX

"So do you think Kakashi was serious when he said to steam-roll anyone who stood in our way of becoming chunin?" Naruto asked as they entered the room.

"Dunno." Sakura shrugged. "He did seem kind of serious when he said we should take out as many opposing teams as we can to ensure nothing can prevent us being promoted."

"You guys think we can start thinning the herd now?" Sasuke asked as he scanned the large crowd of genin before them, many of whom were glaring or directing Killing Intent at them. Smirking, he released his own bloodlust which dwarfed their attempts. "Oh this will be fun!"

"Sasuke!" Came a delighted cry from behind the team. Sasuke, reacting on instinct, brought his elbow up and back causing Ino Yamanaka to jump straight into it.

"She counts as an opposing team, right?" Sasuke asked as he stood over the dazed girl.

"Oh great, these guys." Naruto sighed.

"You know this lot?" Sasuke asked.

"It's Ino, Shikamaru and Choji." Sakura told him.

"Oh right, them." Sasuke said before looking at his fellow genin again. "They passed?"

"Well, well… It looks like everyone's here." Came a loud, boastful voice. The speaker was a feral looking boy about their age with two red markings on his face. "Wonder far do you think we'll make it, eh Sasuke?"

"Akamaru, you know you're meant to keep your pets leashed and muzzled in public right?" Sasuke asked the puppy that sat on the boy's head before turning to address the other genin coming up behind the boy. "Aburame. Hyuuga."

"Uchiha." Was the reply of Shino Aburame before he turned to greet the others.

"H-Hello." Squeaked Hinata Hyuuga.

"Dammit Akamaru, get back here!" Kiba Inuzuka yelled after Akamaru hopped down from his hood and wondered over to Sasuke.

"You guys should be quieter." An older genin advised as he made his way over. "Lots of the other competitors have short tempers and are nervous about the exam. You better quieten down before you cause a scene."

"And you are...?" Naruto asked.

"My name's Kabuto." The boy introduced himself. "This is the seventh exam I've taken."

"You either suck worse than that Senju, or you don't want to get promoted." Sasuke commented. "What’s the matter, afraid of having to do C-Rank missions?"

"Ha, well I can give you guys some advice since it's your first time." Kabuto chuckled. "With my Ninja Info Cards, I've burned information about the exams, the villages to take part in it and the contestants onto them. There are some powerful competitors here from Konoha, Suna, Ame, Kusa, Taki and Oto... Well Oto only started last year is there isn't much info, but the others are filled with talented young shinobi. Ask away and I'll be glad to fill you in."

"Someone named Gaara, from Suna." Naruto said.

"Okay, here we go." Kabuto said as he removed a card and pumped a bit of chakra into it. "Gaara of the Desert. Mission History: D-Rank, unknown. C-Rank, eight. B-Rank, one. Wow, a B-Rank mission as a genin... Since this is his first time and he's from a foreign country I don't have much info. However it seems he returned from all his missions without even a scratch."

"Thanks, that's all I needed to know." Naruto told him. When a trio of Oto ninja caused a scene by attacking Kabuto Naruto leaned in beside his team mates and whispered. "He shouldn't have that kind of information."

"You're right." Sakura whispered back. "We don't trust him."

"If you guys say so." Sasuke shrugged and turned to scan the crowd. "So many people, so many fights... This is gonna be fun!"

A large poof of smoke formed at the front of the exam hall and someone ordered everyone to shut up. When the smoke cleared it revealed more than a dozen Konoha chunin and the head of Konoha's Torture and Interrogation Force, Ibiki Morino.

"You Oto ninja, stop doing what you please before the exam even begins." Ibiki ordered. "Do you want to fail already?"

"I apologise." One of the Oto ninja said. "This is our first time... We got a bit carried away."

"Here's a good opportunity to say this." Ibiki said aloud to the mass of genin. "There will be no fighting without the permission of the examiner! Even if permission is granted, killing your opponent will not be tolerated. Anyone who disobeys me will be failed immediately... Is that clear?"

Once he'd finished Ibiki made each competitor come up to him, randomly take a number and sit in the corresponding chair. When they'd all been seated a written exam was handed out.

"There are many important rules to this test. I'll write them on the board as I explain them. There are to be no questions!" Ibiki told them before turning to the board. "Rule one, you all start with ten points. There are ten questions and each is worth one. This test uses a subtraction system. If you answer all ten right, you have ten points. If you get two wrong, you lose two and get eight. Rule two, this is a team test. You pass or fail based on the combined scores of your team. The final rule, for every time you are caught cheating you will lose two points. The chunin around the room will be watching and should they catch someone five times, you will be asked to leave. If you are asked your team mates will be made to do so as well. Now, begin!"

As the genin all turned over the exams and found themselves staring at questions well beyond what a normal genin would know, the trio each set about doing the test in their own way.

Naruto read each questions several times before deciding to answer them in the order he felt most confident about them. Sakura started at question one and answered each in turn. Sasuke thought for a moment, wrote his name on top, turned the sheet over and went to sleep. Forty two minutes into the exam Sasuke woke up again and waited for the final question.

"Okay, we will now start the final question." Ibiki announced. "But before we start, there are some additional rules for this question... Firstly, you must decide whether or not to take it."

"Choose?" Temari yelled. "What happens if we choose not to?"

"Your points are reduced to zero and you are asked to leave." Ibiki told her, prompting a number of genin to declare that they obviously will take the question. "But, if you choose to take it and get it wrong... You lose the right to take the exam again!"

"What kind of bullshit rule is that?" Kiba roared. "There are guys here that have taken it before."

"You guys are just unlucky. This year it's my rules." Ibiki told him. "Now I'm giving you a chance, if you don't feel confident than don't take it and leave. You can always try again next year... So, if you don't want to take the final question, raise your hand."

As worried genin began to quit, Sasuke looked around the room. He checked his own sheet and made a decision. He stood and walked out of the row he was in, he passed two rows and entered another.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Ibiki demanded to know as Sasuke walked up to Kabuto.

"Hey! Give that back!" The older genin ordered once Sasuke took the boy's answer sheet and replaced it with his own.

"I said, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Ibiki roared as Sasuke once the boy had returned to his seat.

"Cheating." Sasuke answered. "So make a note to deduct two points."

"What? You think I'm going to allow you to continue after that?" Ibiki yelled, covering those in front of him in spit.

"The rules say I only lose two points." Sasuke yawned. "Besides, isn't this the point of the exam?"

"What?" Ibiki asked, seeming to calm down.

"The point of the exam is to cheat, right?" Sasuke said again. "You set these questions that are too hard for normal genin and then make a point of telling us that you only lose two points for cheating... Hell, I can cheat three more times and you still can't fail me because I'll have two points left!"

"No I... But... That isn't..." Ibiki seemed to mumble, in complete shock that someone had seen through the point of his little test and found a loop hole that allowed him to do no work and still pass. "Is... Is everyone who's still here willing to take the final question? Yes, good... You all pass."

"What?" Several of those still in their seats asked.

"The tenth question was to see if you had the guts to risk it all on an unknown situation even when the outcome could have a major effect on you. By staying you showed you were willing to risk it all for the sake of the mission and so you passed.” One of the chunin told them when it became clear Ibiki was still in shock at having a thirteen year old play his rules against him. “The other nine questions were to test your information gathering skills. As the Uchiha pointed out, the questions were too difficult for a normal genin and we arranged the rules to allow you to cheat. Of course anyone who cheated poorly failed."

Before anyone could ask a question, something crashed through the window. Several kunai were fired into the roof and floor to pin a large banner up, in front of which stood a young woman in a lot of chain-mail.

"You guys, this is no time to be celebrating!" The woman had time to declare before the floor warped to trap her legs, impact webbing covered her hands to prevent her from making seals and Sasuke landed on in front of her with Rebellion pressed against her throat. "Ibiki, a little help!"

"Dammit Ibiki! Do something!" Anko snapped when the scarred proctor made no effort to help her.

"You bust in through the window so they immobilised you and put a sword to your neck... I think that deserves bonus points for reacting like a shinobi." Ibiki laughed, having recovered from the shock of someone abusing his rules in such a way. "And it looks like Inoichi owes me a week's wage."

"Dammit help me!" Anko snapped before registering what Ibiki had said about Inoichi. "And why does he owe you money?"

"That's why." Ibiki said, pointing towards the back of the hall where Sakura was.

"Holy FuckNuggets!" Anko screamed when she saw Sakura wearing her symbiote. Several of the students near Sakura were trembling in terror and a few even made a break for it, abandoning the exam and their team mates. "You mean Kakashi was telling the truth?"

"Looks like it." Ibiki laughed. Whatever he planned to follow up this statement with was lost when one of the Taki shinobi let out an ear piercing shriek.

"It's the Army-Killer!" The young genin shrieked as he stared in absolute horror at Naruto. His team mates turned to look at Naruto, realised their terrified team mate was right, screamed like a pair of little girls and fled.

"What the fuck is going on?" Sasuke asked turning to face Naruto, never removing Rebellion from its position against Anko's neck. "Since when are you 'the Army-Killer'?"

"I'm just as confused as you are." Naruto admitted as he rose from his position behind the desk and turned to look at the retreating Taki ninja. "And I think you can relax, she's got a Konoha Forehead protector."

"Has she?" Sasuke asked, turning back to face Anko. "I hadn't checked."

"Oh you've got to be kidding." Naruto face palmed. He'd just noticed that Sasuke's eyes were level with Anko's chest. "I think she's important to the next part of the exam so you're gonna have to let her go."

"Fine." Sasuke sighed as he withdrew Rebellion, all the while ignoring the glares Anko was directing his way... It seems she'd noticed where he'd been looking as well. "Hey Sakura, how long until this stuff dissolves?"

"Twenty-four hours." Sakura answered before leaping across the entire classroom to land in a crouch on the desk behind him. Several other genin used the fact that she was no longer between them and the door to flee. "But if you're strong enough you can try to break it yourself."

"Alright, let’s try this." Sasuke said as he repeatedly swung Rebellion at Anko, slicing away the webbing. "So, what's next?"

"Eh... You are all to go to the Forty-Fourth Training Ground for the next part of the exam." Anko declared, taking a momentary break from glaring at Sasuke. "Once there you will be told what the second part entails... If you are not there within fifteen minutes you automatically fail, there are maps to guide foreign shinobi to the training field in the hallway."

"The Forest of Death? I love that place." Sasuke exclaimed happily as he turned to leave. "It's where I got my rug."

"It is a nice rug." Sakura said as she moved to follow, her symbiote reforming into her ordinary clothing. "We meant to ask you where you got it."

"Picked it up in the forest, killed and skinned it myself." Sasuke told her. "We could get you one while we're there if you want?"

"If we have time, we’d hate to be the cause of the team losing." Sakura answered.

"We'll have plenty of time." Naruto chipped in. "Besides, from what Sasuke said, those giant tigers are all over the place!"

**_XXXXX_ **

**_Sasuke taking Kabuto’s sheet is a nod to ‘Cheaters Prosper’ by drakensis… Read it ages ago and that little joke just kinda stuck in my head. Haven’t looked at it since I first read it, and so I don’t know how well it has aged, but was funny back then so I’m still gonna say if you haven’t read it go look it up._ **

**_I'm dyslexic, so please point out any mistakes in spelling or grammar [I spell things the way they do in England and Ireland, so some things may look off to Americans]. Please leave your opinion via review or send them via PM, I'd like to know what you think. Well, I think that's everything I've gotta say so, hope you enjoyed the chapter._ **

**_This is Highvalour saying bye and thanks for reading_ ** **_._ **


	4. frollocking Through The Forest

**_Originally written between June 24 th and July 29th 2012._ **

**_Barring spelling mistakes I noticed afterwards no changes have been made since this stuff was originally written… This story is a timeline charting my growth as a writer, and that’s just sad!_ **

**_All Intellectual Properties Belong To Their Rightful Owners_ **

**_XXXXX_ **

XX Forty-Fourth Training Ground, Konoha ; Fire Country XX

"So ..." Sasuke began as he used a combination of Tricks and Air Dashes to keep pace with the web swinging Sakura, and Naruto who was piggybacking off her. "You guys noticed it too?"

"Noticed what?" Naruto asked.

"Yes. Some time ago." Sakura hissed. "What should we do?"

"What are you two talking about?" Naruto demanded to know.

"Somebody has been following use for a while now." Sasuke told him, a broad grin on his face. "Someone strong... I'll tell you what we're gonna do, we're gonna stop and see what they want!"

"We call dibs." Sakura said firmly.

"You sure you want to use it now?" Sasuke asked. "You never know when we'll run into someone you really want to kick the shit out of..."

"We're sure." Sakura answered with a smile. "We think this will be a very interesting match."

The trio stopped on a particularly large branch and turned to face there pursuer. There was silence between them and no one moved, each searching for any sign of whoever it was that was tracking them. Without a word Sasuke embedded Rebellion into the tree trunk and caught a grip of Naruto.

"What are you...?” Naruto began only to be silenced as a powerful burst of wind came from where they'd been watching. It would have blown him away if Sasuke hadn't anchored them both down with his sword.

"Well, well… This is a surprise." Came a polite, if unnerving, voice. "I had thought myself well hidden, a sensor on the team perhaps?"

"Nope, you just suck!" Sasuke called out. "So ... Who are you anyway?"

"My, my, my. What has the state of this once great village fallen too, if I am not so easily recognised?" Called the voice before the speaker appeared. It was a ninja from Kusa, in his hand was an Earth Scroll. The Kusa ninja wrapped an incredibly long tongue around the scroll and swallowed it. "You wanted my scroll right? Well now, let’s begin the battle for each other's scroll... With our lives on the line!"

"That... That may be the dumbest thing you'll ever do." Sasuke told the enemy ninja, completely ignoring the Killing Intent that was flooding the air.

"And why is that?" The Kusa ninja asked, mock confusion lacing his voice.

"Because now we'll have to reach down your throat and pull it out!" Sakura roared as she lunged forward, the rest of her form morphing into her Venom form.

"Ahh!" The ninja yelped as he dove aside, Sakura's fist embedding itself in the branch where he once stood. Sakura roared in rage, exposing her fangs and tongue, before charging again. "Stupid girl, I don't know what jutsu you're using... But you'll find that I don't scare so easily!"

As the two clashed it became apparent that it was only the Kusa Nin’s experience and unnatural flexibility that was allowing him to match Sakura. It was also apparent that it was only his seemingly endless supply of Earth Clones that ensured the fight didn't end whenever Sakura landed a hit. Strangely it seemed that the Kusa ninja was more interested in Sasuke as he kept trying to break away from Sakura and engage him. Once or two he'd even managed to get in close by using an Earth Jutsu to sink into the ground to get close. Of course every time he did Sakura would just pull him back with webbing or kick him in the back of the head, revealing he'd swapped out with another clone.

"Dammit, this is taking too long!" The man hissed to himself. "I'm burning through chakra and branding the Curse Seal of Heaven will be quite draining... I need to get rid of her and test Sasuke, I need to know if he's worth my time."

"She's doing well." Naruto noted from his position beside Sasuke.

"Yeah, speaks a lot about this guy's skill that he isn't a stain on a tree trunk right now." Sasuke said.

"She's something else." Naruto said, not really paying attention to Sasuke.

"She's nice, but the fangs are a bit of a turn off." Sasuke told him. "I don't like girls with bigger fangs then me."

"Hehe, not a problem for me." Naruto laughed before calling out to Sakura. "How's it going?"

"Fine." She called back. "We're enjoying ourselves!"

"I wonder why this guy wants to fight you so bad?" Naruto mused aloud. "I mean he doesn't seem to be giving Sakura his full attention!"

"Not sure." Sasuke shrugged. "But I do know that if he doesn't start giving her his full, undivided attention he's gonna end up a broken bag of bones."

"Dammit!" The Kusa ninja cursed before vomiting out another man, much to the disgust and horror of the team. The new man wore a similar outfit to the Kusa ninja, who was now lying on a tree branch like a deflated blow-up doll, but was paler and had distinctive purple markings around his eyes. "Dammit, I've wasted too much time and energy... I'll just have to trust the rumours are true!"

Before anyone could process the fact that a Kusa ninja had just vomited out a fully clothed man, said man preformed a hand seal which caused his neck to extend. Thrusting his head forward, the man bit down on Sasuke's neck. As Sasuke collapsed from whatever he'd done, the man's neck retracted to its normal length. Sakura lunged forward, slapping one hand over his mouth to prevent him vomiting out any other people and to hold him in place while she began to viciously beat him senseless. When she'd finished punching the guy into a bloody pulp, Sakura cocooned him in webbing and began to swing him into any and every tree branch and trunk in reach. After that she simply tossed the bruised, bloody and broken body deep into the forest.

"He's okay right?" Sakura asked Naruto as soon as she rejoined the boys. "We mean he heals from any wound!"

"I dunno." Naruto admitted. "I mean I've seen him down a bottle of bleach for a bet only to complain about the taste... Anything that could cause him to react like this has got to be bad."

"We should find somewhere to hide him." Sakura said, worry clear in her voice.

"Yeah." Naruto agreed. "Let’s go."

XX Elsewhere in the Forest XX

Orochimaru dragged himself along the ground using the only unbroken finger he had. He didn't know what that... That thing was, but he'd make it regret ever crossing him when he was done.

"I-it hit... Hit like T-Tsunade." He whimpered. "B-but was m-more a-a-agile than me... What a monster!"

 _'When I find Kabuto, we will be having a nice long talk about why providing me with faulty information on dear, sweet Sasuke's team mates is a bad idea!'_ Orochimaru thought to himself. It was the only thing that gave him the strength to keep going. _'Once I recover enough chakra to use my Body Shedding Technique that is... Really need to find a way to reduce the amount of chakra it consumes!'_

XX Forty-Fourth Training Ground [Back With Team Kakashi – Eight Hours Later XX

"He still out?" Naruto asked as he woke up.

"Yes." Was Sakura's simple reply. She'd taken first watch and after the fight with the strange Kusa ninja she was beginning to feel tired. "We're worried. Anything that could injure him like this would kill us outright... What do we do?"

"We'll hold up here until you've rested. If he's still out by then, we head for the fence and quit." Naruto told her. "No point trying to finish without him... I don't see them letting us continue with only two combat ready members, do you?"

"No." Sakura agreed before moving back in beside Sasuke and settling down to sleep. "Wake us in about three hours."

"Got it." Naruto said. Crouching down at the entrance to the hollow they'd hidden in, he scanned the area for any sign of potential threats. As time passed, Naruto began to wonder how the other rookies were getting on. If any of them ran into that Kusa ninja, they're dead.

When it was time to wake Sakura, Naruto stood and stretched. Bending as if to check his laces where tied, Naruto slammed his palm to the ground and created a wall of earth in front of the hollow but before he could harden the earth to provide any real protection it exploded inwards as two blasts of concussive force slammed into it.

"Wake up Sasuke!" One of the Oto ninja ordered. "We want to fight him!"

"Sorry, he's a heavy sleeper." Naruto joked. "Besides he's a real monster if anyone interrupts his beauty sleep... But if it's a beating you want, I'm happy to oblige."

"Whatever." Muttered one of the Oto ninja as he raised his arms. "We'll just kill you and finish him after!"

"Tag!" Sakura snarled as she web swinged in and kicked the boy square in the chest, most likely cracking a few ribs in the process. "Who's next?"

"Dammit!" Yelled the other boy on the team as he swung his arm, encased in a strange gauntlet, at Sakura. As Sakura dodged she collapsed in agony as the symbiote tried to tear itself away from her. The ultra-sonic frequencies the gauntlet generated set her nervous system, which was directly tied to the suit, on fire. Seeing this, The Oto ninja laughed. "Haha, don't like noise huh?"

"Sakura! Leave her alone you bastard!" Naruto roared as he charged, bringing his hands together in preparation for an alchemical attack. Just before he was in arms reach the other ninja, who Sakura had struck, blind-sided him with a high powered blast from his hand.

"Hehe, nice work Zaku." The bandaged boy, who seemed to be in charge, said before turning to the girl. "Hey Kin, how about a little music for the freak?"

"Got it Dosu." Kin replied before throwing several senbon around Sakura, who began to howl with rage and pain.

"Zaku, finish it." Dosu ordered as he walked past the still dazed Naruto and neared the tree hollow.

"All right." Zaku muttered before levelling his arms at Naruto. "See you around run-"

"Enough!" Lee roared as he cut off Zaku with a drop kick to the back of the head. Turning to attack Kin, Lee began to rush forward just before his ears felt like they'd exploded. Looking behind him, Lee saw Dosu standing there, an annoyed look on what was visible of his face.

"Getting involved in this was your one, and looks like final, mistake!" Dosu snapped. He backhanded Lee who passed out from the pain in his ears. "Kin it looks like Blondie is getting up, help him 'relax' a bit will you? I'm gonna make sure Zaku isn't dead."

"I have the medical supplies if you need them." Kin told him as she threw a few senbon beside Naruto and used the tiny bells attached to affect him.

As the two Oto genin focused on their downed teammate, neither noticed the slowly increasing pressure in the area nor the growing taint in the air. None saw the surges of eldritch power run along Rebellion's surface.

XX ? XX

Sasuke stood in an empty, white void. He gritted his teeth against the pulsing pain in his neck and the pressure building in the back of his mind looking around, Sasuke noticed the only other being in the void. He recognised the pale skin, the black eyes and the strangely spiked hair... It was himself as a child.

"Mom and Dad... Didn't have to die..." The younger Sasuke, really a manifestation of Orochimaru's soul, sobbed. The fragment was worried, Sasuke's body had next to no chakra in it and the seal was being forced to absorb more and more Natural Energy to sustain itself. It needed to get Sasuke to embrace the Curse Seal of Heaven soon. "In the end, if you don't have strength you can't do anything... Because I didn't have strength... The clan was wiped out... Everyone was killed..."

"Might rules all!" Sasuke muttered as the pressure grew. The void began to flicker, changing from its sterile white to a bloody red and back. Sasuke's eyes began to glow a sickly yellow.

"No... You!" Orochimaru's soul went on, continuing with the mental torture it had planned. It had noticed how the void was changing and was growing very concerned. Was this what happened when a host failed to survive? Was it damned to disappear along with his only chance of claiming the sharingan? "Y-You let them die...All you did was watch... If only you had strength!"

"I have strength... I have power!" Sasuke snarled as he collapsed to the ground, his body beginning to flicker with the void. White and human, red and not. "And it seems that power... That power wants to come out... Come out and play."

"W-What's going on?" The fragment of Orochimaru stuttered as the void became permanently red and the monster rose. "W-What are you?"

"Inside Everyone... There Is A Demon!" The beast growled as it released a wave of power that destroyed the soul fragment and the Seal it was bound to. "A Demon That Should Be Exercised!"

XX Forty-Fourth Training Ground, Konoha ; Fire Country XX

"Some minor Oto ninja bullying these second rate ninja and declaring victory?" Neji spat from his position above the clearing the Oto ninja had just finished beating Team Ten in.

"They just keep coming." Zaku sighed. "They're like cockroaches or something."

"If you don't leave now I'll go all out." Neji snarled as he activated his byakugan. "Huh...? W-what is that?"

"What are you talking about?" Zaku asked before being thrown head over heels as the hollow tree behind him exploded outward in a wave of red demonic energy, hate and bloodlust. "W-what the..."

Before Zaku could even finish his sentence, a red blur shot out of the smoke and tore his head off. When the blur came to a stop it revealed a monster. Its legs, forearms, neck and lower face was covered in thin, black leathery skin while the rest of the body was encased in a thicker, red scaly hide. Its eyes, as well as numerous 'veins' across its body that glowed a deep yellow. In its hand it held Rebellion, the blade practically humming with power.

"Huh, well things have either gotten a hundred times better or a million times worse." Naruto joked as he helped Sakura to her feet.

"We don't think he's here to help us." Sakura hissed, the symbiote reforming around her.

"Yeah, think we can take him?" Naruto asked, sounding a bit worried.

"What the fuck is that?" Dosu shouted at them.

"Ha, you aren't going to believe us but that's Sasuke." Naruto told him, shocking the other ninja.

"Sasuke!" Dosu shrieked and backed away. Doing so drawing Sasuke's attention to him. "Is... Is this because of the seal?"

"Seal?" Neji muttered as he stared in horror, his byakugan revealing every detail of the monster to him.

"Maybe... That guy most of done something to affect the demon in him." Naruto mused.

"Demon? Seal?" Neji muttered before a look of complete horror appeared on his face. "Tenten, get ready to run."

"What?" Tenten asked, never taking her eyes of Sasuke.

"We can't fight something like that." Neji muttered, more to himself than to her. "No one here can... What were they thinking? Letting 'it' compete!"

"Ino! Ino, get out of her body!" Shikamaru hissed. "He might not know you're in there and we won't be able to stop him if he attacks."

Right." Ino agreed and released her technique, transferring her mind back into her own body and out of Kin's one.

"Ugh… What happened? What... What the hell?" Kin groaned and then screamed as she spotted Sasuke's monstrous form. In a panic, she fired several of her kunai and senbon at him. The weapons, finest Oto could supply, bounced off his skin. With a snarl, Sasuke turned and threw Rebellion. The blade arced through the air and cut her in two.

"Screw this." Dosu yelled before turning and fleeing. When Rebellion came back Sasuke lunged forward and impaled the retreating ninja.

"Run now." Neji ordered as he flung several smoke bombs at Sasuke before snatching up the still unconscious Lee. Taking to the tree tops, Neji and Tenten retreated. As the smoke cleared Sasuke let out a roar and took off in chase.

"So ... Do we follow and risk dying ourselves or stay here and hope he comes back himself?" Naruto asked, turning to look at Sakura.

"Well... He can look after himself." Sakura said slowly. "But... Can the rest of the competitors?"

"Huh, let’s go." Naruto sighed before climbing onto Sakura's back.

"He better not get us disqualified." Sakura muttered before scaling a nearby tree and web swinging into the forest.

XX Inside the Eight Trigrams Seal XX

Deep inside the seal Kurama, the Nine Tailed Demon Fox, directed as much of his chakra towards the seal as he could. He'd been watching the world through the boy's eyes and saw that now was a vital moment. He had to use every ounce of power at his disposal to reinforce that bastard Namikaze's seal.

"Should I Warn Shakaku?" The great demon mused. "Bah, If The Fool Hasn't Noticed It Then The Crazy Tanuki Deserves Whatever Comes His Way."

XX Forty-Fourth Training Ground, Konoha ; Fire Country XX

Following the trail of devastation left by the rampaging Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura came across a clearing with the mangled corpse of a bear and a severely traumatised Kusa kunoichi.

"Hey, did a red and black skinned 'demon thing' come through here?" Naruto asked while Sakura checked the bear corpse.

"Ye...ye...ye..." The girl muttered, rocking forward and back while hugging her knees to her chest.

"Right." Naruto sighed before scanning the area. "Was he chasing a Hyuuga, a kunoichi and an unconscious green unitard wearing kid?"

"No." Came her squeaky reply.

"Okay... You using that scroll?" Naruto asked. The girl looked at the scroll beside her, paused for a second and then kicked it to him. "Cheers."

"We have bad news and good news." Sakura sighed as she moved away from the corpse. "Bad news is he seems to in control enough to use his other weapons... Those wounds did not come from his sword or claws."

"Crap, what's the good news?" Naruto asked,

"We lied, there is none." Sakura admitted.

"Wonderful." Naruto muttered. "On the bright side, I got a scroll so once we find him we can finish."

XX Forty-Fourth Training Ground [Back With Team Asuma] XX

"That wasn't Sasuke! That wasn't Sasuke! That wasn't Sasuke!" Ino repeated as she stared off after her crush.

"Naruto said it was." Shikamaru told her. He was sitting on a large chunk of the tree Sasuke had destroyed and trying to make sense of what he'd seen.

"It can't be Sasuke! He isn't a monster!" Ino snapped.

"Hey guys, I found a scroll." Choji called out from his position near Dosu's corpse. "Let’s get going before we find any other monsters."

"He isn't a monster!" Ino shrieked.

XX Forty-Fourth Training Ground [Back With Team Kakashi] XX

"Hey guys." Sasuke waved when Naruto and Sakura finally caught up with him. "How did I get here?"

"What do you remember?" Naruto asked, looking around at the piles of animal corpses and damaged trees.

"I got bitten. I had a really weird dream where I met my younger, less cool self and then I woke up here." Sasuke told them as he pulled Rebellion out of the skull of a giant bear. "What'd I miss?"

"We'll tell you on the way." Sakura told him. "You still have the scroll?"

"Eh..." Sasuke said as he patted down his pockets before holding up the scroll. "... Got it."

"Great, let’s go." Sakura smiled before the three set off towards the tower.

XX Forty-Fourth Training Ground [With Team Guy] XX

"What. The hell. Was that!" Tenten demanded to know once she and Neji where convinced they'd lost Sasuke.

"It couldn't be, no there's no way it was." Neji muttered as he scanned the entire area with his byakugan. "They wouldn't let one compete or even exist. No way."

"Isn't what?" Tenten snapped, quickly losing her patience. "What the fuck did the Uchiha become?"

"Rumours. I heard rumours when I was a kid... Never realised what they meant until now." Neji told her. "Hushed conversations about seals and demons... About sharingan and monsters... He was a master of seals!"

"Who was? What are you talking about?" Tenten asked, resisting the urge to hit him.

"Thirteen years ago, a demon attacked. Thirteen years ago a sealing master preformed an unknown jutsu to beat it." Neji said, horror in his voice. "It didn't die, they cursed a child to hold it... They made a jinchuuriki!"

**_XXXXX_ **

**_I love misunderstandings in stories. Someone sees or hears something and they come to a conclusion that, while close, is wrong… I always like to see those kind of things so that’s why, here, Neji thinks Sasuke is a jinchuuriki._ **

**_I'm dyslexic, so please point out any mistakes in spelling or grammar [I spell things the way they do in England and Ireland, so some things may look off to Americans]. Please leave your opinion via review or send them via PM, I'd like to know what you think. Well, I think that's everything I've gotta say so, hope you enjoyed the chapter._ **

**_This is Highvalour saying bye and thanks for reading_ ** **_._ **

****


	5. Thinning Out The Competition

**_Originally written between October 3 rd and December 30 2012._ **

**_Barring spelling mistakes I noticed afterwards no changes have been made since this stuff was originally written… This story is a timeline charting my growth as a writer, and that’s just sad!_ **

**_All Intellectual Properties Belong To Their Rightful Owners_ **

**_XXXXX_ **

XX Forest of Death Tower, Konoha; Fire Country XX

"Why do we have to risk our lives in battle?" Kiba blurted out once the Hokage finished explaining the true purpose of the Chunin Exams.

"The strength of the country is the strength of the Village. The strength of the village is the strength of the shinobi" The Hokage said gravely. "And a shinobi's true strength is born only through life-risking battles."

"This is gonna be fun." Sasuke whispered as he scanned the crowd for Gaara, the boy had seemed pretty tough when they'd met before the exam.

"That Hyuuga guy's been staring at you funny since we showed up." Naruto noted, paying as little attention to the Hokage's speech as Sasuke. "I think you've got an admirer."

"Not my type…" Sasuke clarified quickly before turning to look at Neji for a moment. "… And are you sure the Hyuuga's a guy?"

"We heard him speaking before you slaughtered those Oto ninja." Sakura chipped in. "He couldn't take his eyes off your 'other self'."

"Huh, well as long as he doesn't start stalking like some Hyuuga we know." Sasuke joked.

"What? One of the Hyuuga is stalking you?" Naruto blurted out, a little louder than he should have.

"A-hem. Can I continue?" Asked Hayate Gekko, who had shown up while they hadn't been paying attention.

"Hehe, sure. Sorry about that." Naruto laughed before turning to Sasuke and lowering his voice to a whisper. "You're getting stalked?"

"Even when he's a genius he can't see it, can he?" Sasuke muttered, sharing a dumbfounded look with Sakura.

"See what?" Naruto asked, looking between the two.

"You really are clueless." Sakura laughed softly, her eyes flickering over to where Team Eight stood.

"As there are eighteen of you, we will not be allowing anyone to back out." Hayate said, raising his voice slightly to get the trio's attention. "Now, if you'll all turn your attention towards the large screen over there we'll randomly decide who will fight in the first round."

Deciding to continue their conversation later, the trio turned to the screen and watched as the names of all those who'd passed sped past before two stopped.

_Choji Akimichi_

_VS_

_Yoroi Akado_

"Will everyone else make their way to the balconies above?" Hayate asked.

"So, who do you think will win?" Naruto asked as they made their way up to the balconies.

"Well Choji isn't really a fighter, hasn't got the killer instinct in him." Sasuke noted. "That said, Akado's that Kabuto guy's teammate so I can't see him being any good."

"True." Sakura laughed. "Kabuto does seem kinda weak."

"He's crafty." Naruto pointed out. "He knew stuff about Suna a Konoha ninja shouldn't know… He's hiding something."

"If you say so." Sasuke yawned before setting Rebellion against the wall and sitting down. "Wake me when one of us has to fight."

"You don't want to check out the competition." Sakura asked as Choji and Yoroi squared off.

"Not really." Sasuke shrugged before closing his eyes. "Actually, wake me if that Gaara guy fights."

XX Forty-Fourth Training Ground, Konoha; Fire Country XX

Orochimaru, huddled deep in the hollow of a dead tree, examined all the information Kabuto had on Sasuke and his teammates. He wouldn't be caught off guard again. He'd find out what jutsu that girl had used to increase her speed and her strength. Another worrying thing was the junchurriki's growing reputation.

' _That boy defeated an entire army of Ronan Samurai.'_ Orochimaru seethed. _'If Sasuke isn't at least twice as strong as that bastard's bastard son I'll… I'll… Dammit, I'll do something.'_

As he read and re-read the reports Orochimaru felt his anger growing. Nowhere in Kabuto's data was there any reference to unique jutsu or specialised training. No mention of a monstrous black form baring what looked like the symbol of the Tsuchigumo clan.

"I mean it Kabuto…" Orochimaru swore to the heavens above him. "… If you don't deliver a detailed report the next time you contact me, I will make you sorry."

XX Forest of Death Tower, Konoha; Fire Country XX

Sasuke was awoken from his rather enjoyable dream by a sharp kick to the ribs. Getting up and making his way over to the railing, where Naruto was sniggering and Sakura was watching as Kankuro was carted off on a stretcher by a pair of Medic-ninja.

"So, pyjama boy lost?" Sasuke asked, wondering how many matches he'd slept through.

"Yeah." Naruto confirmed. "It was a really good fight, pretty close and showcased some serious talent from both fighters."

"He deserved to lose." Sakura pointed out. "It left a hole in his defence as bait for a trap but screwed up and tried to spring the trap far too late… Hinata got in five solid blows to his chest before he managed to blindside her with his puppet."

"Blindsided a Hyuuga… That's impressive." Sasuke laughed. "Wait a minute, Hinata Hyuuga won a fight?"

"Yeah, she did really well." Naruto told him. "Took her a minute or two to really get going, me and Kiba had to yell at her to kick his ass before actually began to fight back."

"Good for her." Sasuke laughed before looking between his teammates. "So, why'd you wake me?"

"For the last time, will Sasuke Uchiha and Rock Lee make their way down to the arena?" Hayate called up. "If you do not, you will forfeit."

Looking to his right, Sasuke saw Lee being blocked by his two teammates. They seemed to be arguing and the Hyuuga kept turning to throw him uneasy looks. Shrugging, Sasuke grabbed Rebellion and vaulted over the railing. Landing in a slight crouch, Sasuke strolled over to Hayate and turned to wait for Lee. After a minute Lee seemed to grow tired of whatever he was arguing about and stormed past his teammates and down to the arena.

"Trouble in paradise?" Sasuke joked as he embedded Rebellion's tip into the arena floor and then leaning on the massive blade.

"It seems those shinobi from Oto where more skilled than I thought." Lee laughed. "They performed a genjutsu that Tenten and Neji still think is real."

"What do they think?" Sasuke asked, sniggering and looking up at them.

"Well, Neji is convinced a jinchuuriki used the power of the dreaded Kyuubi to kill the Oto ninja." Lee told him, trying not to laugh at his teammates as it would be unyouthful. Trying as he was not to laugh, Lee failed to notice the subtle wave of panic that ran through anyone from Konoha over the age of twenty. "He swears you became a 'nightmarish black and blood-red monster'.

"Really?" Sasuke asked, his whole demeanour changing. On the outside he seemed serious, even worried, while inside he was cracking up. _'This could be fun.'_

"Yes. I know it is unyouthful to laugh of other's foolishness, but it is very funny." Lee laughed before noticing Sasuke's mood. "… Isn't it?"

"Yeah… Foolish… Funny." Sasuke said, looking very uneasy and throwing glances to Kakashi for guidance. "Ha ha ha."

"But it's wrong, right?" Lee asked, starting to get nervous as well. "Sasuke?"

"I'm afraid I cannot comment of the existence, or non-existence, of a jinchuuriki. Nor may I talk about the events of October Tenth for fear of committing treason." Sasuke answered in the kind of slow and mechanical tone that comes from reciting something you've been forced to memorise. "If you wish to learn that 'they say' happened, read a history book. If you want to learn what really happened, ask anyone with the authority to divulge S-Rank secrets."

"Is-Is he implying what I think he's implying?" Naruto hissed to Sakura up in the stands.

"We think he is." She replied dumbfounded. "He's actually implying he is the Kyuubi jinchuuriki."

"So ... They were telling the truth?" Lee asked in surprise, actually feeling excited at the idea of testing himself against someone strong enough to hold away the fearsome Kyuubi. "But wait, they said the Fourth Hokage killed the Kyuubi! How can you be a jinchuuriki?"

"Firstly, I never said I was... Just that I can't confirm or deny it." Sasuke pointed out. "And secondly, the Bijuu are just big balls of chakra shaped like animals... How do you kill chakra?"

"Are you going to fight?" Hayate asked, trying to turn the conversation away from S-Rank secrets and secretly still existing demons. "Because it you delay any longer, I'll disqualify you both."

"NO!" Kakashi screamed from the balcony above. "They'll fight, don't worry. Lee, start fighting now and I'll provide you with every bit of information I have on foreign taijutsu styles and Sasuke eh... I'll foot your alcohol bill for a week."

"Deal!" Both boys declared before attacking each other.

"Good work Kakashi, well done getting them to begin this most interesting match." Guy congratulated, making his way over to his rival. "But... Should you really be allowing a child to drink? Alcohol could be hazardous to his youthful body."

Guy, that kid's drinking habits make Kurenai look like a teetotaller." Kakashi argued, causing a shocked Asuma to choke on his cigarette. "By agreeing to pay, I can at least control what he drinks."

"I see." Guy said before turning back to watch the, rather destructive, fight.

"You're fast." Sasuke noted as Lee dodged an overhead swing of Rebellion and retaliated with half a dozen swift punches to the face. The two broke apart before rushing forward and clashing again. Sasuke's massive sword proved less than effective in close quarters and against such an agile foe while Lee's quick and bone shattering blows did little to tax Sasuke's regenerative powers. As the two broke apart again Sasuke sheathed Rebellion. "This isn't working."

"Are you giving up?" Lee asked, disappointed that he wouldn't get a chance to showcase his full power.

"Nah, just don't think fighting you like this is much fun." Sasuke laughed before causing Rebellion to vanish. In its place, a pair of armoured gauntlets and greaves formed. They were forged decorated with strange runes that seemed to glow a deep purplish-red and adorned with short spikes. "Come on out, Gilgamesh!"

"What on earth?" Lee breathed as he took in Sasuke's new armaments. The gauntlets appeared to have short, vicious looking drills located along the upper part of the forearms while the ankles of the greaves sported wicked looking saws. "Those must weigh you down."

"A bit, but not as much as whatever you've got around your legs." Sasuke admitted before a mask formed to cover the lower half of his face and he shot forward to fight Lee again.

Above the arena, the Hokage had called Kakashi over to speak with him.

"These weapons Sasuke is using and this unnatural healing... Where did they come from?" Sarutobi asked in a hushed tone.

"Maybe it's magic?" Kakashi muttered, mocking the Hokage's earlier disbelief about his claims on Sasuke's ability.

"Kakashi this is serious." Sarutobi snapped. "He's using unknown abilities and equipment, where did they come from?"

"You know..." Kakashi began, looking and sounding incredibly smug. "... I've been asking those same questions. In every report. Since you gave me this team. Maybe if you'd believed me, and not sent me for a psych evaluation, we could have found out before now."

Any reply from the Hokage was cut short be a deafening boom as Lee removed his weights. Whipping around, the pair could only stare in shock at the dust and debris kicked up by the weights. In the shocked silence that followed, Kakashi heard something that clued him in on just how bad this fight was about to get.

"Huh, that's some heavy duty training you do." Sasuke joked, shaking his head to dislodge dust and debris from his hair. Smirking as we worked out how much the weight must have slowed Lee down. "Well, I guess the warm up is over… Swordmaster!"

As red energy flickered across Sasuke's body, several of the genin froze in fear of his supposed power. Lee just made a note of the subtle changes in Sasuke's stance before vanishing in a blur. Reappearing, Lee delivered a jaw shattering blow to Sasuke and backed away before the Loyal Uchiha could retaliate. Using these hit-and-run tactics, Lee was able to strike and avoid Sasuke for some time before Sasuke decided to reveal one of Gilgamesh's unique features. Directing some demonic energy through the drills on Gilgamesh's gauntlets and expelling them from the back, Sasuke converted the drill attachment into a miniature rocket that propelled his fist straight into a startled Lee's chest.

"Gaah." Lee gasped as he was knocked back across the arena. Groaning and struggling to his feet, Lee gently prodded his chest to check how many ribs fractured. Fixing Sasuke with a determined glare, Lee began to unwrap the bandages that covered his forearms. "Sorry Sasuke, but I must end this fight now."

"No don't quit." Sasuke whined. "It's just getting fun."

"You cracked four of my ribs and shattered two more." Lee explained as he prepared to rush forward one more time. "It's hard to breath and hurts a lot… If I don't finish you now, I'll lose for sure."

"I understand… Then come and see, can a man beat a monster." Sasuke laughed as he began to charge power into the drill on his left arm. The energy whistling and crackling as he cocked his arm. "Come and see if a genius can beat the devil itself."

The two charged. As the two drew near Sasuke jabbed high and as such, actually made it easier for Lee to get in under his defences and launch him into the air. Following with Shadow of the Dancing Leaf, Lee appeared behind Sasuke. With his bandages, He restrained Sasuke and sent them both into a downward spiral. Before the struck the arena floor Lee kicked away, leaving Sasuke to be pile-driven into the ground.

"I-I did it." Lee groaned as he stood, ignoring the agony in his muscles from using the Primary Lotus.

"Not bad Lee, not bad." Naruto called from the balcony, having started to clap slowly. "If you'd been fighting anyone else in this room, you'd have won."

"If…?" Lee muttered before the sound of crackling came from behind him. Turning, Lee took Sasuke's rising uppercut to the face. As his fist connected with Lee's face, Sasuke released the energy and propelled himself upwards in a spiral of demonic power. Lee landed with a thud almost halfway across the arena while Sasuke landed in his starting position.

"Good fight Lee… Good fight." Sasuke gasped as he stumbled and dropped to his knees. "I'm tempted to forfeit and give you the win."

"Sasuke Uchiha wins." Hayate announced after checking on the unconscious Lee. "That was an impressive, and pretty destructive, match… Good fight."

"Thanks." Sasuke said before making his way up to his team. Slumping down against the wall again, Sasuke let out a long sigh. "Wake me when someone interesting has a fight."

All around the arena, those who'd just witnessed the fight processed the information in different ways. None of the Konoha officials could bring themselves to look Kakashi in the eye, not out of shame for having doubted him but because the smug 'I told you so' look on his face made them ill. Kakashi himself was actually trying to catch the eye of said officials, just to shoot them the smug 'I told you so' look. Most of the genin of Konoha all looked between the arena floor and the sleeping form of Sasuke with varying degrees of shock, confusion and fear. Ino, however, was still denying that Sasuke was some kind of monster while Sakura and Naruto looked at Sasuke wondering what he hoped to gain by implying he was a jinchuuriki.

"Will Kabuto Yakushi and Shikamaru Nara come down to the arena floor?" Hayate called once the computer decided on the next two fighters. When both were beside him he stated the fight and moved away.

Up above, and ignoring the match, the visiting team from Suna were all dealing with what they'd seen in different ways. Temari was wondering how Gaara was reacting to another jinchuuriki and how she could ensure she was nowhere nearby when he finally decided to attack the host of the legendary Kyuubi. Kankuro was panicking at the idea of being near another, clearly insane, demon host. Baki was mentally trying writing the message he would be sending to the Kazekage and trying to find the best way to word his belief that the attack was in jeopardy. Gaara… Well Gaara was wondering who 'Kurama' was and why this person refused to answer his Mother's calling.

XX Inside The Eight Trigrams Seal XX

Hidden in the deepest, darkest depths of Naruto's mind Kurama, the fearsome Kyuubi, cowered in fear. He'd wrapped his tails around himself in the hopes of invoking the ancient and effective 'If-I-can't-see-them-then-they-can't-see-me’ style of camouflage. He'd been doing his best to avoid moving or making a sound, so as to not attract the attention of the big scary devil, when Shakaku started yelling through their telepathic link.

"Kurama! Kurama I Know You're There!" The annoying Tanuki cried. "I Can Sense You!"

' _Ignore him, maybe he'll go away… Please go away.'_ Kurama thought to himself as he pulled his tails even tighter around himself.

"If You Don't Answer Me I'm Gonna Get my Host To Hit That Stupid Uchiha You're Stuck In." Shakaku Yelled. "And Haha, You Got Stuck In An Uchiha!"

"I Have Never Been Sealed In A Blasted Uchiha!" Kurama roared. "… Dammit."

"Finally! Why Do You Never Answer Me? It's Not Nice and It Does Horrible Things To My Self Esteem, You Know." Shakaku Cried.

"Oh Shut Up." Kurama snapped. "And I Mean It This Time. In Case You haven't Noticed, There's A Fucking Devil Nearby."

"A Devil?! Hahaha, Good One. The Last Devil In This World Went Bye-Bye When The Sage Ripped The Juubi Up And Made Us!" Shakaku laughed. "And What Do You Mean You Aren't In The Uchiha, My Host Just Watched Him Fight and He possessed Immense And Foul Power Just Like You."

"And Where Do My Powers Come From?" Kurama Yelled.

"Well From Being The Biggest Piece of The Juubi Of Course… Oh Shit." The Tanuki recited, knowing how much Kurama loved to lord his supposed superiority over the rest only to realise why the Uchiha's power felt similar. "Eh… Bye!"

"Good Riddance." Kurama muttered before returning to his cowering in fear.

XX Forest of Death Tower, Konoha; Fire Country XX

"It's quiet." Gaara muttered.

"What's wrong Gaara?" Temari asked, turning away from the fight between a Konoha kunoichi armed with lots of kunai and some silly little girl in purple wondering if she'd need to find someone to use as a meat shield.

"Mother is quiet. I-I can't hear her." Gaara muttered, feeling uneasy without the voice of Shakaku whispering in his mind.

"Oh… Eh…. I-I'm sure M-Mother will start talking again soon Gaara, d-don't worry." Temari stuttered, scared out of her mind at the sight of Gaara so uncertain. An uncertain Gaara tended to kill indiscriminately… Well more indiscriminately anyway. Thankfully a distraction came in the form of Hayate announcing that the weapon user, Tenten, was the winner and that the next fight would be between Naruto Uzumaki and Kiba Inuzuka.

"Walk up!" Naruto yelled as he delivered a sharp kick to Sasuke's ribs. "I'm up next and you said I'm one of the matches you wanted to see."

"Yeah, I'm up… I'm up." Sasuke yawned as he rose to his feet. Looking around he spotted Kiba making his way to the arena. "You fighting Kiba and Akamaru? Though break."

"What? Why?" Naruto asked.

"Well the Inuzuka are speed fighters. Hit-and-run attacks… That kind of thing." Sasuke explained. "So he isn't going to stay in one place long enough for you to do that earth twisting and grabbing thing you seem to prefer… My advice is to get him in close and hit him hard with that arm of yours, several times if possible."

"Thanks." Naruto laughed before making his way down to the arena.

"Hinata won, right?" Sasuke checked with Sakura. "Well, who else fought?"

"Choji faced that Yoroi guy and won in the first round." Sakura began. "Then Hinata managed an impressive victory against that puppet user from Suna… Then you fought Lee. After you Shikamaru went up against that Kabuto guy, something about him is off we're sure of it. Then Ino lost badly to Lee's teammate Tenten."

"Right... Lot of the rookies are passing. Guess Iruka was doing something right." Sasuke noted before turning to watch Naruto's match.

"What the hell happened to your teammates?" Kiba asked Naruto as the two squared off. "I mean first there's Sakura becoming a monster when that crazy proctor lady broke through the window and now Sasuke comes out and pretty much admits he's… He's… What the hell man?"

"You know it's not nice to call other people monsters." Naruto pointed out as Hayate started the match. "And should we, you know, start?"

"In a minute." Kiba told him, not really caring about the match and more interested in getting answers. "When did your team become so different?"

"I honestly have no idea what you're talking about." Naruto shrugged before using Alchemy to repair the damage Lee and Sasuke had caused. "We're as normal as we've always been."

"There! That wasn't normal! What the hell did you do?" Kiba yelled, pointing an accusatory finger at Naruto.

"Simple Alchemy, bit more advanced than normal but still simple." Naruto said as if it explained everything.

"There's nothing normal about… You're messing with me, aren't you!?" Kiba yelled, practically frothing at the mouth.

"What! No, I'd never." Naruto denied, sounding deeply insulted at the accusation only to start laughing. "Yeah you got me… I must be spending too much time with Sasuke. He's a bad influence you know, what with being a demon and all."

"Dammit, don't mock me!" Kiba snapped, pissed off at being made fun of by the 'Dead Last'. "I'm gonna beat the crap out of you, you little shit."

"Little… Little… Little…" Naruto repeated, his eye twitching and fists shaking, before lunging at Kiba. "WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO MINUTE THAT HE'S INVISIBLE TO THE NAKED EYE AND COULD BE STEPPED ON BY AN ANT!"

"Wha…?" Was all Kiba could manage before Naruto was on him and beating the crap out of him. Those watching were unnerved, a few were also impressed, by the level of savagery displayed. Akamaru, showing that loyalty to his partner was stronger than self-preservation instincts, tried to stop Naruto by latching onto the blonde's arm but only succeeded in hurting his mouth.

"Eh, I think you can stop now kid." Hayate nervously told Naruto once it became clear Kiba wasn't gonna be putting up any kind of fight. "Kid... Kid…! Dammit kid, stop now or you're disqualified."

"What? Oh right." Naruto said, snapping out of his frenzy. "I won, cool."

"Y-Yeah kid, you won." Hayate sighed. "Just… Just clear the floor."

"Well you took my advice." Sasuke laughed when Naruto joined his teammates on the balcony. "Although there's a difference between 'several times' and 'pounding a guy for four full minutes'."

"Wait a minute, are you complaining to me about overdoing it?" Naruto challenged.

"Nope." Sasuke said quickly.

XX Some Time Later XX

"So ... Is Gaara gonna be disqualified for killing that guy?" Sasuke wondered aloud as the red-headed psycho made his way up to the opposite balcony, leaving behind a bloody smear and clumps of wet sand. "I'm just asking because I was under the impression those waivers ended once we cleared the forest."

Eh no, he won't be disqualified." Kakashi told his genin as he too tracked the crazy Suna shinobi's movements. "You see, those waivers cover everything from the beginning of the second stage of the exams up until the beginning of the third stage… Killing Misumi will affect Suna's relationship with Konoha though."

While several shinobi cleaned up the worst of the mess the higher ups from Konoha glared over at Suna's sole qualifying team. Baki cursed Gaara under his breath while trying to appear apologetic while both Kankuro and Temari decided to avoid Gaara for a while, he was clearly upset about something. Gaara himself was wondering why his Mother hadn't acknowledged the blood he'd fed the sand, even if the blood was bad the spirit within him would always comment on it. The silence, so unfamiliar, was scary to Gaara and that fear caused Gaara's bloodlust to grow. Ignoring the glares from the Konoha shinobi, he as use to glares and didn't care anymore, Gaara focused on the genin of Team Kakashi.

"Mother mentioned Uchiha… The Uchiha did something… I'll kill him and get Mother back." Gaara vowed as he directed all of his bloodlust at Sasuke. Not caring that all the Konoha jonin where present and would possibly able to stop him, Gaara began trying to drag out as much of Shakaku's chakra as he could.

"Gaara enough." Baki hissed. "Remember the plan, wait one more month and you can kill all you want… Just wait one more month."

"I. Don't. Care!" Gaara snarled just before his bloodlust was snuffed out, like a candle in a hurricane. Watching the waves of Killing Intent coming from the last loyal Uchiha, Gaara caught a glimpse of a monster hidden behind the power. Frozen with fear and awe, Gaara watched the red and black beast flicker in and out of view behind Sasuke.

"Cut it out." Naruto said before punching Sasuke in the side of the head. Once the Killing Intent died down, Naruto shuck his head and sighed. "Why oh why did I have to get stuck with a wannabe thespian?"

"What? I was only having a little fun." Sasuke defended before reaching up and rubbing his ear. "What did you have to hit me for anyway?"

"Next match is up." Naruto told him with a nod towards the large screen.

"So, I don't care about either of them." Sasuke shrugged.

"be that as it may, we think if you'd continued showing off that your admirer would have fainted" Sakura told him, pointing towards Team Guy and trying not to laugh.

"Well, that or glomp you." Naruto laughed as Neji skirted past them on his way down to the arena floor. "He was breathing heavily and staring at you with wide eyes."

"Well just about everyone was." Sakura added, leaning on the railing to get a better view for the upcoming fight. "But he was panting."

"The Hyuuga's a chick." Sasuke said stubbornly. "I'm telling you, the Hyuuga's gotta be a chick."

"Neji Hyuuga is a guy." Sakura told him. "We heard him talking in the forest and several times while here. Trust us, he's a boy."

"Bullshit! There is no way on earth that that Hyuuga is a boy." Sasuke all but yelled, completely ignoring the splutters of indignation coming from said Hyuuga. "You two are trying to pull my leg but I won't fall for it, I won't."

"Let's get an outside opinion." Naruto said before making his way over to Team Kurenai. "Hey Hinata, settle something for us will you? Is your cousin a boy or a girl?"

Wither it was nervousness from Naruto being so close, confusion from the question or just lingering side-effects from Sasuke's Killing Intent, Hinata couldn't form a complete sentence to answer.

"That was an impressive dodge." Sakura muttered, having decided to ignore the argument between her teammates and focus instead on getting an idea of what a potential opponent was capable of.

"She's not impartial." Sasuke challenged once Hinata was able to squeak out 'boy'. "Hinata would side with you if you said the sun was purple."

"You just can't admit you're wrong, can you?" Naruto said in amazement as he walked back to his team.

"Nope because I'm not." Sasuke announced smugly. "So Neji is fighting the blond one from Suna that means Shino has to face Sakura right?"

"Yeah, that'll be a fun fight… To watch, not to be in." Naruto laughed. Leaning against the back wall, Naruto partially up the sleeve of his coat. "I think Akamaru damaged something when he bit me, can't move my index finger."

"Hehehe, the dog did more damage than Kiba? Oh that's great." Sasuke said, trying not to laugh himself. Leaning back against the railing and looking over his shoulder, Sasuke watched the last few minutes of the match between Neji and Temari. "Oh, that's gonna hurt."

When the medics had checked on Neji, and taken him away for treatment, those present turned their attention to the large screen for the last time. It was just a formality, since Shino Aburame and Sakura Haruno were the only genin left. When their names appeared, both made their way down to the arena floor and took their places facing each other.

"Alright, the last match of these Prelims begins… Now!" Hayate declared before retreating as fast as he could, he'd seen what the other two genin under Kakashi had done and had no intention of being near the last one when she showed whatever crazy powers she had.

Neither bothered to look at Hayate as he fled, doing so would give the other an opening. Instead they stared at one another for what seemed like an age. Then, without warning, both acted. Shino released most of his hive as a great, droning swarm while Sakura's clothing warped and morphed into her Symbiote.

"You've based yourself on some kind of spider, but it won't help you." Shino said as he directed his beetles to attack in swarms to leech her chakra. "Why? Because very few species of spider feed on beetles, but some beetles are known to eat spiders."

Smiling, Sakura relied on the same speed and agility that had challenged Orochimaru to evade the swarms. The Symbiote's ability to provide sensory data from any part of itself helped. Using her webbing to put some distance between herself and Shino, Sakura clung to the walls and laughed.

"We see why Sasuke likes toying with his opponents, it's really fun to drag things out." Sakura said as she ran her tongue along her fangs. Waving at Shino, Sakura had the Symbiote mimic her surroundings and vanish from view.

Scanning the area, Shino had his beetles fan out to try and detect her. Turning slowly, trying not to make any sounds that might mask Sakura's movements, Shino searched every part of the arena. Sensing movement, Shino lunged to the side just as Sakura's fist collided with his side and cracked several ribs. Rising slowly to his feet, Shino directed his entire hive to converge on Sakura and attack.

"We don't think so." Sakura laughed as she avoided the insects and vanished again.

"That won't work again." Shino announced the beetles zeroed in a surprised Sakura's location. "You're wondering how they found you? Simple, when you struck me I planted several females on you. They release a scent that the rest of my hive can tract, you can't hide."

"Hehehe, we aren't just the spider..." Sakura said as Shino's bugs were sucked into the Symbiote. "... We're the web as well, you can't beat us!"

"It seems I can't." Shino admitted, sounding rather bitter. "I surrender."

"Phew, the Prelims are over." Hayate sighed before nodding to two shinobi standing off to the side. "If all who passed could gather down here, the Hokage will explain the final stage."

"You all will be fighting to show the true power of your Villages, so I ask that none hold back." The Hokage began once the nine genin had gathered, making a mental note to order Sasuke Uchiha to hold back a lot against anyone from Konoha. "The final competition will take place exactly one month from now so I invite you all to make the most of that time to prepare... Now, before you are allowed to go and prepare, there is one more thing to see to."

"Come on old man, the monologue is getting boring." Sasuke yelled out, only to get a smack from both of his teammates.

"Thank you Naruto, Sakura." Sarutobi smiled before returning to business. "Anko will now go around with a box. Inside this box there are nine sheets of numbered paper, take just one and inform us which one you get."

"Just one, got it?" Anko snapped as she offered the box to Sakura.

"Four." Sakura announced.

"Nine." Gaara muttered.

"Five." Shikamaru sighed.

"Seven." Temari called out.

"One." Hinata said.

"Three." Tenten announced.

"Eight." Naruto said, looking over at Temari and Gaara.

"Six." Choji told Anko when he picked.

"That leaves two for me, right?" Sasuke laughed before reaching in.

"Alright then." Ibiki snapped once he'd recorded the last of the numbers. "This is how it'll work, those numbers indicate which order you will be fighting in! Now, because we have an uneven number of genin one of you will be fighting first. The first match will be Hinata Hyuuga vs. Sasuke Uchiha, the winner of that match will face Tenten. After that will be Sakura Haruno and Shikamaru Nara, then Choji Akimichi vs. Temari and then the final match of round one with Naruto Uzumaki vs. Gaara."

"Now then, remember who your first opponent will be and plan well." Sarutobi said before gesturing towards the doors. "You're now free to train and prepare however you see fit."

**_XXXXX_ **

**_I'm dyslexic, so please point out any mistakes in spelling or grammar [I spell things the way they do in England and Ireland, so some things may look off to Americans]. Please leave your opinion via review or send them via PM, I'd like to know what you think. Well, I think that's everything I've gotta say so, hope you enjoyed the chapter._ **

**_This is Highvalour saying bye and thanks for reading_ ** **_._ **

 


	6. Killing A Month

**_Originally written between December 30 th 2012 and March 15th 2013._ **

**_Barring spelling mistakes I noticed afterwards no changes have been made since this stuff was originally written… This story is a timeline charting my growth as a writer, and that’s just sad!_ **

**_All Intellectual Properties Belong To Their Rightful Owners_ **

**_XXXXX_**

XX Ramen Ichiraku XX

"Hi Naruto, how did your exams go?" Ayame asked once Naruto took his usual seat. "And where's Sakura and Sasuke?"

"Hey Ayame, How are you?" Naruto replied before ordering his usual. "The Chunin Exams are going well, finals are in a month's time. As for those two, no idea… Sasuke said something about a 'wicked party' at some palace and Sakura might have said she was heading home to see her parents then going somewhere else."

After finishing off a few bowls of ramen, and catching up with Ayame, Naruto made his way home. Dumping his coat and shirt on a chair, Naruto grabbed a manual on Automail repair and his tool kit. Removing his right arm, Naruto set about checking for the damage Akamaru caused.

XX The Valley Of The End XX

As he finished carving the runes into the top of the statue's head, Sasuke let out a sigh of relief. Rolling his shoulders and checking that everything was in order Sasuke smiled.

"Let's get this party started!" Sasuke yelled as he activated the portal to the Bloody Palace and vanished in a flash of light.

XX Forest Country XX

Ashina Dohaku fled for his life. The Missing-Nin from Kumo had been raiding villages and farmsteads with several bandits for weeks now and he's thought himself safe from retaliation, but he'd been wrong. Someone or something had attacked his camp and carried off all his men, their screams having carried for miles.

As he ran Ashina wondered who'd attacked them, Kumo ninja or simply bounty hunters after his head. Using chakra to boost his speed, Ashina ran faster and faster, although at that speed he couldn't stop or change direction quick enough to avoid running head first into a massive spider web.

"Hahaha, welcome to our parlour said the spider to the fly." A monstrous voice mocked as something moved in the shadows above him.

"W-What are you?!" Ashina roared as he sent a surge of lightning chakra through his body, hoping to destroy the webbing with it.

"Call us Venom!" Sakura told him as she cocooned him in webbing. "Because we are poison to the likes of you!"

XX Akatsuki Hideout, River Country XX

As the eight active members of the Akatsuki organisation faded into existence those who were at least civil to each other shared quick nods by way of greeting. Scanning the area, and noticing that Kakuzu was without a partner, Deidara shook his head and drew Sasori's attention to the now vacant spot in their membership.

"Huh… All of us meeting together like this." Kakuzu growled.

"We haven't done this in seven years." Sasori noted boredom evident in his voice. "Not since Orochimaru left the 'Organisation'."

"What's up?" Kisame asked hoping they were going to be involved in a war somewhere. He wanted to really cut loose.

"SoMeThInG hAs CoMe Up In ReLaTiOn To ThE kYuUbI." Zetsu's black half told them before his other half cut in.

"Yeah, hehe, it seems we've been misled." White Zetsu laughed before focusing his stare on Itachi. "Well, confess!"

"I have no idea what you are talking about." Itachi replied stoically.

"YoUr BrOtHeR." Black Zetsu explained. "He Is JiNcHuUrIkI!"

"You have a brother?" Kisame asked in surprise, somewhat hurt that Itachi hadn't shared that little fact with him before. "How come you never said so?"

"My little brother is of no consequence, so I saw no reason to." Itachi said, proving he was a master actor by controlling his confusion, worry and fear so as not to show any. "He is no jinchuuriki… He is nothing."

"ThAt EpiSoDe In ThE fOrEsT oF dEaTh BeGs To DiFfEr." Black Zetsu challenged before letting his white half continue.

"Yeah, we saw him rampage after losing control." White Zetsu said as he nodded vigorously in agreement with the black half. "He tore through everything in his way, all red and black and leaking demonic power… Oh, it was so scary."

"StOp ThAt." Black Zetsu snapped as he grabbed his head to stop it bobbing. "YoU lIeD iTaChI!"

"Your information is faulty." Itachi told them. "Sasuke is not the host to the Kyuubi."

"Sasuke?" Kisame repeated while scratching his chin. "Where have I heard that name before?"

"He was named after Sasuke Sarutobi, father to the current Hokage." Itachi said. "Perhaps that's who you've heard about?"

"Nope, was about something else." Kisame muttered while he racked his brains trying to remember, he was pretty sure it was important.

"So the Kyuubi is contained within a host blessed with the sharingan?" Sasori said, entering the conversation. "That is worrying, the sharingan is one of the few things that can control the beast… The boy's control could be near perfect."

"Nope." White Zetsu laughed. "The littlest Uchiha went completely bonkers and ran amok, killing things."

"Naruto Uzumaki is the Kyuubi jinchuuriki." Pain cut in, his voice as cold and dead as the body he spoke through. "What you saw was something else."

"But... But he was powerful, red and black, leaked inhuman power and was feral. Those are signs of untrained jinchuuriki." White Zetsu whined in annoyance at the others doubting him and Black.

"I have it on good authority that Uzumaki is still host." Pain said, ending the matter. "But this new power you saw is worrying… The Uchiha is a teammate of our target, and Itachi's brother. His presence may compromise a successful capture."

"Maybe he's a pseudo-jinchuuriki?" Kakuzu offered. "Another like the one reports say resides at the Fire Temple."

"Konoha's building a Bijuu powered army?!" Deidara gasped.

"Such a course of action would not fit with the Hokage's beliefs." Konan spoke out, startling Deidara who'd forgotten she was present.

"No, but he's not the only power in Konoha." Pain said as his fists clenched and something almost resembling anger tainted his voice.

"Danzo Shimura?" Kakuzu asked. "From what I heard, sounds like something he'd do."

"Indeed." Pain agreed before turning back to Zetsu. "What of the jinchuuriki? What are his abilities?"

"EaRtH mAnIpUlAtIoN. BeYoNd AnYtHiNg I'vE eVeR sEeN." Was Black Zetsu's simple report.

"Yeah, he can even make metal out of dirt and use the ground to repair stuff." White Zetsu said. "Really cool, loads of lightning when he does it too."

"I've never heard of earth jutsu that could make metal… Or produced lightning." Deidara mused.

"Anything else?" Konan asked when neither Zetsu spoke.

"ThE gIrL, sHe'S sTrOnG." Black Zetsu reported. "A jUtSu, MaKeS hEr TuRn BlAcK aNd InCrEaSes hEr AbIlItIeS."

"Yeah, might be that kinjutsu the Tsuchigumo clan have." White Zetsu added. "Markings on her chest and back look like their crest."

"Momochi!" Kisame yelled, drawing everyone's attention to him.

"What about him?" Kakuzu asked in the hopes of catching a clue to the Missing Ninja's whereabouts, his bounty was pretty high.

"That's where I heard the name Sasuke." Kisame explained. "I was talking to Momochi not long ago, Leader over there wanted to see if he could be persuaded into joining, and I asked where his sword was… He answered that he lost it against a trio of monsters being chaperoned by the legendary Kakashi Hatake himself. I think it's the same team as our target."

"Sasuke face Zabuza Momochi and live? Unlikely." Itachi said bluntly, the last report he'd gotten on his brother had included the younger Uchiha's academy grades and they were not the grades of someone who'd survive against the Demon of The Bloody Mist.

"He didn't just face him, he forced Momochi to break off from their sword fight." Kisame corrected, eliciting several gasps from those present. "Yeah and that's not all. Momochi said the boy could regenerate. Not some medical jutsu but properly undo any damage he took instantly… Compared him to the old stories about Hashirama Senju."

"Did Momochi say anything about the jinchuuriki?" Pain asked as he was far more interested in data about the target.

"Yeah, said the kid goes ape-shit if you call him a 'little shit'." Kisame laughed.

"Would Zabuza Momochi be receptive to an invitation to join Akatsuki?" Konan asked as she eyed the empty spot where Kakazu's partner should have stood.

"If we're going anywhere near that team I doubt it." Kisame snorted. "In fact I think just going anywhere near Konoha will be enough to make him turn us down."

"I see, then no need to bother him if he doesn't wish to join." Pain said, eliciting a 'what the fuck?' from Deidara. "Zetsu, focus you attention on the Kyuubi jinchuuriki and its teammates. Kakazu, make your way to our base in Lightning Country to meet your new teammate. The rest of you, continue with your assigned tasks."

After the projections of the other Akatsuki members flickered and faded Pain and Konan turned to the shadows and the cave's only physical inhabitant.

"Things are getting interesting." 'Madara' noted as he emerged from the darkness. "Pay close attention to Konoha and the Uzumaki boy."

"Does this impact on our plans?" Pain asked.

"Not at the moment… We'll have to wait and see." 'Madara' said as he stepped back into the shadows. "Kisame said Momochi, correct? I think I shall have a talk with the master of Silent Killing, see what I can learn."

XX Naruto's Apartment, Konoha – Two Weeks Later XX

Rubbing his eyes and rolling his shoulders Naruto picked up another book on Automail maintenance and customisation. He had a plan for the Chunin Exams, well several actually, but his plan for Gaara hinged on his arm not being clogged and that was a problem.

Automail had lots of complex parts, tiny little sections that moved and worked and functioned perfectly as long as no little bits of dirt or sand got stuck. Now normally that wouldn't be a problem since the amount of sand it'd take to clog up his arm wasn't something you'd normally find in one place in Fire Country, but Gaara was a walking sandstorm waiting to happen and that could, most likely would, cause problems.

"This looks promising." Naruto yawned as he came across a chapter on retrofitting his arm for lighter kits. Naruto had made it about half way down the introductory paragraph before his stomach let out a loud rumble to remind him he hadn't eaten since morning. Rubbing his eyes again and glancing at the clock, Naruto was surprised to see that it was almost seven in the evening. "Don't wanna cook… Ichiraku it is."

XX Ramen Ichiraku, Konoha XX

As Naruto finished off his second bowl of miso ramen and chatted away with Ayame he heard someone call his name in greeting. Leaning back in his chair and checking up and down the street, Naruto spotted Team Guy a short ways off.

"How are you Naruto?" Lee called as he broke away from the team and made his way over. "And how are you team mates? I haven't seen them around the village lately."

"Hello Lee. I'm good, how are you?" Naruto said. "Sasuke and Sakura? Oh I'm sure they're fine… And hello Guy-sensei, Neji and… Tenten, right?"

"Good day Naruto!" Guy yelled from across the street. "I'm sorry I can't stay, but Kakashi has invited all the sensei out for drinks and I'm hoping to issue a new challenge. Good bye."

"Bye… What's he mean challenge? Naruto called after the Guy before turning to Lee.

"Guy-sensei and Kakashi Hatake regularly set tasks to challenge each other." Lee explained as he took a seat down beside Naruto and scanned the menu. "The loser must perform a forfeit."

"Just more of his antics." Neji scuffed as he eyed the ramen store. He seemed to be debating with himself as to wither he was hungry enough to be seen eating there. "Where are your… team mates?"

"Sakura is off sightseeing… I think, she said something about visiting River Country and dealing with some pests the news said where hanging around there." Naruto told them as he motioned to Ayame that he'd be paying for them. "As for Sasuke… Something about gate crashing a party at some castle."

"What? He's away partying instead of training?" Tenten snapped as there was a pretty strong chance she'd be facing him and she found the fact that he wasn't training very offensive."

"Well with Sasuke the term 'party' can mean just about anything from a few drinks and some loud music to a no holds barred battle royale between himself, S-Rank enemies and hell spawned monstrosities that make the Bijuu seem civil in comparison." Naruto shrugged before turning to Lee. "Your face healed up nicely."

"Yeah, Sasuke came by after the matches had been announced and made me crush some green crystal. It healed me up right there." Lee explained as he accepted a large beef ramen. "Speaking of the Bijuu, is what Sasuke said true? About him having the Kyuubi sealed up inside him?"

"I'm sorry Lee, but all details relating to the Kyuubi and its sealing, presuming that is in fact what happened, are classified as S-Rank and as such I cannot divulge any details without the express permission of the Hokage." Naruto said in the dull and robotic tone of someone repeating a learned response.

"Oh, I see." Lee said before a small smile spread across his face. He had managed to stand against someone who held the most feared demon in existence after all.

"So is this thing at the palace a party 'party' or a battle?" Tenten asked, clearly not letting this underestimating of both herself and Hinata go.

"Could be either… But my money would be on him just spending the entire month blind drunk and trying to hook up with whatever floozy catches his eye." Naruto admitted after a moment considering the question.

"What! That's it; I'm going to kill that stupid sword swinging asshole!" Tenten ranted, storming off and muttering about making the Last Uchiha pay.

"Hehehe, this is gonna be interesting." Naruto sniggered as he watched her retreating form.

"How unyouthful." Lee sighed as he finished his ramen. "And here I thought Sasuke was a fair and good person… But to waste his time drinking and partying like that is an insult to his opponents."

"Yeah… Or at least it would be if this Bloody Palace place wasn't an artificial Hell Dimension where his mere presence summons the hordes of a dozen different Hells to try and kill him constantly." Naruto laughed as his self-control broke and tears started streaming down his face. "I lied, Sasuke is taking Hinata and Tenten seriously… I just wanted to rattle her cage and get her worked up for the fight.

"Why?" Neji asked.

"Why? To see her turn Sasuke into a human pin-cushion of course!" Naruto said with a shit eating grin on his face.

XX The Bloody Palace XX

Ducking under the lunging Assault and drawing Coyote-A Sasuke fired on the Blitz that had finally stopped darting around in its incorporeal electric form, removing a section of its face and overloading the irritating little lizard.

"Choose your cradle of filth. Discipline that I've instilled. Turn and face your sacrifice. As I revolve this lead of might!" Sasuke sang to himself as he sidestepped another charge from the sole remaining Assault, this time driving one of Lucifer's blades through its back while it passed. Triggering the blade's explosive quality, and clearing this section of the Palace, Sasuke finished his song. "In my world where only time is feared, single handily I draw your first tear. Sway strong to the truthful frequency, spirits swim in the wares of history."

Waiting for the next portal to open, and his next challenge to be revealed, Sasuke roll his shoulders and called Rebellion back to his hand.

"Let's hope the next batch can put up a fight." He muttered before stepping into the pillar of light.

XX River Country XX

"W-Where the hell is it?" Raiga Kurosuki roared as he stood in the middle of the street searching for the thing that had taken his mooks. It had struck while his men had been securing this month's profits from the gold mine and had dragged two off into the night without any difficulty. "Dammit Ranmaru, where the fuck is it?"

"Behind us." Came the voice of Raiga's young assistant.

"Die!" Raiga roared as he channelled a surge of Lightning chakra through the Kiba blades and blasted the small shack behind him.

"Missed us." A voice hissed off to his right. "And it seems you have a helper, interesting."

"Shit, where is it? What does it look like? A-Are there more?" Raiga rattled off as he quickly lost his cool.

"There's one, it's black with a big white spider on the chest and it's to your left." Ranmaru supplied as a shadowy blur rushed at Raiga.

Diving out of the way and swiping at the creature with his swords, Raiga wondered what the hell he was fighting. The way it had picked off his men, and seemed to use some kind of jutsu that generated spider-like webbing, brought the stories about some new bounty hunter to mind but… But this thing was barely bigger than a child, there was no way whatever was attacking him could have taken down all those other Missing-Ninja or the bandit groups.

"R-Raiga, i-it's gone." Ranmaru whimpered. "I-It just vanished… I don't know where it's gone."

Backing up slowly, putting space between himself and where the thing had been last, Raiga began to weigh up the idea of just fleeing. Sure his reputation would take a hit but at least he'd be safe and able to start over. Yeah, better to flee now with his swords then end up like is old commander Momochi. Yeah better to run than lose his prized Kiba blades.

"Come here!" The thing snarled as three thick strands of webbing shot out from one of the nearby storehouses and yanked Ranmaru off from his perch on Raiga's back.

With a roar of startled rage Raiga converted the chakra he'd been gathering for a quick Body Flicker into Lightning chakra and fired a destructive wave into the storehouse after the boy. When whatever they'd been keeping exploded and engulfed the storehouse in fire and smoke Raiga let out a cruel laugh. He may have lost Ranmaru, a heavy loss indeed, but he had to have killed that monster.

"Missed." A voice hissed before a small fist impacted with Raiga's lower back, the force snapping his spine and paralysing everything below his naval.

"Huh… ah… W-What are…? What are you?" Raiga gasped as he looked at the creature.

"What are we?" The monster growled, revealing dozens of razor sharp teeth. "To scum like you, scum that preys on the innocent, we are poisonous… We are toxic… We are Venom!"

**_XXXXX_ **

**_I'm dyslexic, so please point out any mistakes in spelling or grammar [I spell things the way they do in England and Ireland, so some things may look off to Americans]. Please leave your opinion via review or send them via PM, I'd like to know what you think. Well, I think that's everything I've gotta say so, hope you enjoyed the chapter._ **

**_This is Highvalour saying bye and thanks for reading_ **


	7. Clash of Heirs

**_Originally written between June 20 th 2013 and December 26th 2013._ **

**_Barring spelling mistakes I noticed afterwards no changes have been made since this stuff was originally written… This story is a timeline charting my growth as a writer, and that’s just sad!_ **

**_All Intellectual Properties Belong To Their Rightful Owners_ **

**_XXXXX_ **

XX Chunin Exam Stadium Stands, Konoha – Two Weeks Later XX

Settling into his seat up in the stands, with his team mates rather than his clan, Neji watched the finalists with a wary eye. There was no sign of the jinchuuriki at the moment and the tournament was to start shortly. While the idea of that monster being AWOL was worrying a small part of Neji was grateful since that meant that neither Tenten nor Hinata, because even a weakling like her shouldn't have to face it, would be destroyed by it.

' _Why on Earth would the Hokage let it fight?'_ Neji wondered to himself as he turned his gaze to the Kage's booth where both his leader, and the leader of the Hidden Sand Village, sat awaiting the first match. _'That thing could kill one of the other competitors, why risk it?'_

Was it a show of power, a plan to intimidate the other Hidden Villages and showcase Konoha's strength to the gathered nobles in a single stroke? Neji wasn't sure, he felt like he was missing some crucial piece of information. In fact he was certain he was after raising his concern for Hinata's safety to Lord Hiashi but the way his uncle had listened, laughed and walked away with an amused smile on his face had to indicate something else was going on… Well that or his uncle was an even colder bastard than Neji had ever thought.

XX Chunin Exam Stadium Kage Observation Box, Konoha XX

High above the arena, seated in his high backed chair, Hiruzen Sarutobi watched as the competitors for this year's Chunin Exams gathered. Seven of the nine who had made it past the Second Stage coming from Konoha, all but one of them being rookies, was sure to look good to potential clients and was a sure sign that the Will of Fire could be intrusted to the next generation with peace of mind. Turning away from the slowly filling stadium and addressed his bodyguard, Raido Namiashi.

"How is Anko? Any improvement?" The concern was notable in his voice; Sarutobi had always had a soft spot for the abandoned student(s) of his former prized pupil.

"The doctors say she will be fit for discharge by the end of the month, Milord." Raido replied as he handed over the medical reports he'd taken with him in preparation for those very questions. "Best we can work out, he attacked her to drain the power from her dormant Curse Seal, something in the forest must have hurt him bad to make him risk facing her in the state she described."

"Indeed, have the recon teams found any trace of what did it?" Sarutobi asked as he became aware of several approaching presences. Turning he spotted his counterpart from Suna drawing near, flanked by a pair of bodyguards. Signalling to Raido that they would continue later, and putting on a welcoming smile, Sarutobi turned to the Kazekage and offered a warm welcome. "Ah, Lord Kazekage, welcome. You must be tired from your trip."

"Not at all, Lord Hokage, but I do think it was fortunate the Finals are being held here in Konoha." The Kazekage replied in a far to cheerful tone for the usually cold leader, maybe he'd changed his diet or started using that lovely pipe weed Wind Country produced. "While you are still young, I worry had the Finals been held elsewhere the trip may have proved too much for you… Perhaps it is time you called on a Fifth?"

"Not at all, I feel as spry as ever and plan to continue on for at least another five years if not more." Sarutobi laughed, he'd noticed one of Danzo's old 'and not completely disbanded ROOT' shinobi nearby and wanted to screw with his old friend, before slowly rising from his chair and addressing the crowd. "Thank you all for coming to the Chunin Selection Exam finals here in Konoha. We will not begin the matches between the nine genin who-"

Before Sarutobi could finish his speech screams and cries rang out from the civilians as the sky seemed to bleed crimson and tear itself apart. Watching in equal parts shock and concern as a mass of rock and lava fell through the rip and landed smack dap in the centre of the arena. Shifting and moving the mass of rock and lava took the shape of an elephant sized spider that rose up and roared.

"Get back here you overgrown cockroach!" Someone yelled before a bloodied and ragged Sasuke Uchiha shot out of the rip and delivered a stadium shaking drop kick to the demonic spider. Back flipping off the stunned creature, and charging up those evil looking gauntlets he'd used during the prelims, Sasuke began to pound the creatures face in over and over while yelling at the top of his lungs. "Why. Won't. You. Just. Die?"

When the spider finally gave up and died, its body dissolving into the earth without a trace, Sasuke switched to his sword and joined the others as if nothing had happened, although he did wonder why more than a third of the other competitors kept giving him angry glares.

"Eh… As I was saying." Sarutobi began once he was sure the monster had vanished and the sky was back to normal. "Thank you all for coming to the Chunin Selection Exam finals here in Konoha. We will not begin the matches between the nine genin who passed our Preliminary Stage one month ago. Now, please stay until the end and enjoy the matches!"

XX Chunin Exam Stadium Arena Floor, Konoha XX

Watching as their teammate shuck lava off the metal gauntlets he wore, and adjusted the shredded strips of red leather that was once his coat, Naruto and Sakura just rolled their eyes and waited for the first match to be called.

Once the crowd had settled down, and Naruto got Sasuke to shut up by agreeing to repair his damaged coat, the Chunin Exam Finals could continue.

"Alright, this is the final stage of the test." Genma Shiranui announced as he made his way over to the gathered genin, avoiding the mass of hardened basalt that monster had made after dying. Holding up a sheet that displayed their names and the order of the matches he continued. "The arena is different but the rules are the same as in the Prelims. You will fight until one of you dies or acknowledges defeat. However, if I feel that the fight is over I will step in and you will stop. Got it?"

"Yeah, yeah let's get this party started already." Sasuke yawned as he stripped off the rags that once made up his vest and top and tossed them aside. Slipping his coat on and fastening the buckles over his bare chest Sasuke lay Rebellion across his shoulders and rolled his neck. "Come on, I'm getting bored here."

"Behave or I'll disqualify you." Genma warned, clearly not willing to put up with crap from the Last Loyal Uchiha. Checking the listings quickly to see who would be fighting first, Genma cleared his throat and announced the first match. "Would Sasuke Uchiha and Hinata Hyuuga please remain? The rest are to make their way up the stairs to my right and wait in the competitor's box."

While the others left Sasuke turned to Hinata and flashed a cocky smile.

"Ready to have a little fun?" Sasuke asked, idly swinging his sword back and forth in front of him.

"Y-Yes. I'm ready." Hinata said, sounding and looking more confident then Sasuke had ever seen the girl… But that really wasn't saying much. "I know you're strong, but I won't back down. I-I'm going to give it my all and prove I'm strong."

"You wanna be strong? I can make you strong." Sasuke laughed as an orb of faint blue light formed in his right hand. Clenching his fist around the light caused it to solidify and form into a large and beautifully crafted scythe. "This here is Osiris, I guess you could call it an 'Angel Arm'."

The blade is long and curved, coming off the tip of the snaith at its heel. The snaith itself looks to be made out of wood, and it has two grips protruding from opposite ends that resemble whittled branches. The pommel was a round piece that almost resembles a face and seemed to radiate a faint blue hue.

"What's it for?" Hinata asked as she eyed the scythe. "You mostly use that sword of yours, why are you taking that out?"

"What's it for? It's for you, if you want it?" Sasuke laughed as he closed the gap between them, drove the scythe's pommel into the ground at her feet and walked back to his starting position. "It's a mystic weapon, pick it up and you'll get a massive boost to your speed and agility… Not to mention the knowledge of a master scythe user to wield it well. Think of it as a way to level the playing field. A way for you to get some actual power and have a hope in hell of winning this fight."

XX Chunin Exam Stadium Competitor's Box XX

"What's he doing? If that is an angelic artefact it could do a lot of damage to him." Sakura hissed under her breath as everyone watched Hinata slowly reach for the scythe. "I know he's insane, but this is beyond lunacy."

"He's giving her a change, to pick between power and strength." Naruto explained as a soft smile appeared on his face. “It's kinda touching in a strange and potentially masochistic way."

"What?" Sakura snapped as she rounded on her blonde teammate. "What do you mean 'pick between power and strength'?"

"If she picks up the scythe then she gets the power it contains." Naruto said as he leaned forward. "Power that came from him though… But if she chooses to reject the scythe he's offering, chooses to fight on her own inner strength then it speaks of character."

"So he's willing to risk serious injury to get a look at her character?" Shikamaru blurted out from behind them.

"More or less." Naruto shrugged. "I don't think Sasuke really cares about the exams, he's just interested in having fun and getting into fights."

XX Chunin Exam Stadium, Konoha XX

Hinata stared at the beautifully crafted scythe, Osiris, and was sorely tempted to take it. If one of these mystic weapons was the reason that Sasuke had gone from simply strong to… To whatever on earth he was now then maybe she could get strong too. Slowly reaching out, her fingers falling just short of brushing against the snaith, she could actually feel the power radiating from the weapon.

"I could be strong, strong enough to impress Father, strong enough for Naruto to maybe notice me…" Hinata whispered before her hand fell down to her side. With her head hung low Hinata stepped around the scythe and moved closer to Sasuke.

Dropping into the basic stance for the Hyuuga's Gentle Fist, and fixing Sasuke with a glare so intense that up in the stands Hiashi Hyuuga was taken aback, the heiress to Konoha's largest remaining clan prepared to fight.

Sasuke said nothing, just smiled and banished Osiris. Readying his sword, and flickering red for a second, he squared up to the girl and wondered just how far she'd push him.

"Well if you two are done delaying, I'd really like to get this tournament underway before some of our visitors go home." Genma Shiranui muttered before placing himself in between the pair and raising his hand. "Same rules as the prelims; you fight until surrender or I call it. Killing is allowed but frowned on… Begin!"

No sooner had Genma finished and Sasuke was moving, closing the short distance between himself and Hinata at a speed your average chunin would struggle to match. He started off with the basics, a few simple and repetitive three or four swing combos, to see just how good she was. To his confusion, and presumably the confusion of most of those who knew her, Hinata was able to easily dance between the swings and swipes as the Byakugan and her natural flexibility allowed her to all but dance between his attacks.

"There." Hinata said as she ducked under Sasuke's sword and jabbed at his arm, striking where she'd learned a person's chakra points were located.

"Gah, sonofa-" Sasuke hissed as he jumped back and rubbed at his arm, trying to massage the pins and needles out of it. Charging up and firing off a powerful Drive, which Hinata twisted around to avoid, Sasuke rushed forward and let fly with some of his more advanced sword techniques.

To his surprise, and most definitely to her credit, Hinata found a way to block his attacks. By directing chakra in to her palms, and expelling it at the instant of contact, she was able to stop or deflect each and every swing of Rebellion. When a particularly powerful downward swing was countered the pair were forced back and took a second to inspect things.

' _The Hell?'_ Sasuke thought as he inspected Rebellion, whose blade was actually glowing red hot in places from the friction. Glancing up at Hinata, who was busy inspecting her palms which sported slight chakra burns, he began to laugh. "Hahahaha… Now, this is a party! I was worried, back when Kakashi said we'd be competing in this, that the Exams would be boring. But Lee and you, oh boy did you prove me wrong."

"T-Thank you." Hinata panted, the pace of the fight and the chakra usage having gotten to her. "I-I'm glad you're enjoying yourself."

"Hehe, yeah… But all good things gotta end, so what do you say we finish it right now?" Sasuke laughed as he hefted Rebellion up and laid it across his shoulders. "A game of chicken, right here and right now… Looser is the first to flinch, interested?"

Hinata didn't answer, she just stared at him. 'Chicken'? That was crazy! They couldn't try something like that, if they mistimed a dodge or didn't stop in time then the other would be… would be… Something in Sasuke's face made her train of thought crash to a halt. It was a look that said 'trust me, I got this'. And his eyes, those normal black eyes seemed to be watching her, searching her for something like when he'd offered that scythe.

Closing her eyes, and steadying her breath, Hinata pumped as much chakra as she could into her palm and prepared to charge. Nodding his approval of her decision Sasuke readied Rebellion and prepared to charge. The two remained motionless for almost a full minute before, as if by some unspoken agreement, they both charged at the exact same time.

With a roar Sasuke brought his sword up and then down into a vicious helm-breaker, seemingly aiming it for Hinata's crown.

Ignoring her instincts as they screamed to dodge, Hinata thrust her palm forward towards Sasuke's chest. But at the last instant, with millimetres to spare, Hinata found she couldn't do it. She couldn't land a potential death blow.

She felt the displaced air as the sword passed her ear. That blade must have been sharp because she didn't even feel it cut through her coat, her shirt or the mail undershirt she wore. It came to a stop pressed gently into the thin flesh of her shoulder.

"Huh… Would you look at that, didn't flinch at all." Sasuke muttered, clearly amused, before speaking loud enough for the entire stadium to hear. "You got me good… I forfeit."

There was a stunned silence that followed Sasuke’s announcement.  Those who had witnessed his battle during the prelims, or at the very least heard about the events, couldn’t believe that Hinata Hyuuga of all people had forced the Uchiha boy to surrender. As he staggered back, driving his oversized sword into the ground to steady himself and began coughing up blood whispers began to spread throughout the gathered shinobi and nobility.

“He looks hurt!”

“Rumours are he has the regeneration of Hashirama Senju…”

“… heard he bested Momochi of Kiri…”

“… exaggerated? That or this ‘Hinata Hyuuga’ is stronger than the details given indicate.”

 “… cannot believe the Uchiha lost. But that girl, she’ll be one to watch…”

“What was her team again? I have issues with bandits and if her teammates are anyway as good I may hire them…”

“I-I don’t…? But I didn’t hit you… I chickened out.” Hinata said, stupefied as to why she’d won.

“I may have leaned a little too far forward… My mistake.” Sasuke chuckled and sprayed blood in front of him. “Eh… Think you could help me off the arena floor?  You may have taken out a lung.”

“A… A lung?!” Hinata shrieked before rushing forward and letting him lean on her for support. “H-Hang on… I-I-I’ll get you to the medics.”

“Relax, I’ll heal… give me about fifteen minutes and I’ll be good as new.” Sasuke told her before nodding towards the arena exit. “Just get me over there and I’ll be fine.”

As Genma announced Sasuke’s defeat and called for Tenten to come down for her match against the Hyuuga heiress said heiress helped Sasuke off the arena floor and part way up the steps to the spectators area. Pulling away from her, and leaning against a wall for support, Sasuke shot her a cocky grin.

“Good match… I think you really impressed a lot of people… Congratulations.” He laughed as he gently rubbed as his chest and hissed. Cupping his right hand and forming a glowing sphere of pale blue light Sasuke examined the light for a second before tossing it to her. “Catch!”

“Wha-?” Hinata managed to get out before she caught the light, out of surprise more than anything, and her brain felt like it was exploding. Her vision was filled with flickering images, sights of herself handling the beautiful scythe Osiris like someone who had trained all her life to master it. Her entire body ached and muscles screamed at the sensation of liquid fire flowing through her veins.  By the time the visions and pain ended, by the time Hinata could focus again, Sasuke was nowhere to be seen.

“Not bad… Not bad at all.” A voice sounded from the top of the stairs as someone gave Hinata a slow clap. Leaning over the railings, no sign of any discomfort or injury, was Sasuke. “Consider Osiris a gift, my way of saving thanks... That was a fun fight.”

**_XXXXX_ **

**_This chapter is very Sasuke heavy because I wanted to develop Hinata a bit – mainly because I do not like the character and wanted to see if I could still do good by her in spite of that and since she was fighting him it meant he got a lot of focus.  
_ **

**_I'm dyslexic, so please point out any mistakes in spelling or grammar [I spell things the way they do in England and Ireland, so some things may look off to Americans]. Please leave your opinion via review or send them via PM, I'd like to know what you think. Well, I think that's everything I've gotta say so, hope you enjoyed the chapter._ **

**_This is Highvalour saying bye and thanks for reading_ **


	8. Exams Cancelled, Invasion Commenced

**_Originally written between December 26 th 2013 and September 8th 2014._ **

**_Barring spelling mistakes I noticed afterwards no changes have been made since this stuff was originally written… This story is a timeline charting my growth as a writer, and that’s just sad!_ **

**_All Intellectual Properties Belong To Their Rightful Owners_ **

**_XXXXX_ **

XX Chunin Exam Stadium Competitor's Box, Konoha ; Fire Country XX

By the time Sasuke rejoined his teammates in the competitor’s box the second match was well underway.  Naruto barely spared him a second glance, just made a vague grunt of greeting, as he watched Hinata adapt to fighting with Osiris. She was good, using wide, arcing swings of the scythe to deflect Tenten’s volleys of kunai.

“Why did you quit? We’ve hit you harder than that!” Sakura hissed as Sasuke settled down against the railing.

“I was offered a lot of money to do so.” Sasuke said like it was the most obvious thing in the world, which it was really. Hiashi Hyuuga had noticed an improvement in Hinata’s performance following her victory in the prelims, the praise and positive reinforcement having done wonders for the girl’s self-esteem. Deciding to further boost her self-image and standing, Hiashi had simply offered Sasuke a considerable sum of money to make it a good fight and then throw it.

“You took a bribe?” Sakura whispered, any hint of that fact could see her teammate in serious trouble. “Why?”

“I have bills to pay.” Sasuke shrugged. “Besides… it’s for a good cause.”

“… How?” Was all Sakura could ask.

“How’s Hinata doing?” Sasuke chuckled as he looked out just in time to see Tenten barely avoid a shredding propeller like attack from Hinata.

Both girls showed small nicks and cuts from the fierce battle, the arena floor littered with discarded weapons and shallow trenches from avoided attacks. The battle was one hell of a crowd pleaser, with nobles visibly excited by the displays of skill and ability… Sasuke really would have to look into getting some kind of ‘finder’s fee’ for bringing this much positive press to Konoha.

“So… She took the scythe in the end?” Naruto asked as Tenten attempted to use her trump card, the Twin Rising Dragons, and covered the entire arena floor in sharp instruments of death.

Tenten smirked as the barrage of kunai, shuriken, swords, axes, spears, daggers and spiked balls rained down. She felt really bad, using something like this on a fellow Konoha ninja, but Hinata had beaten that loud mouth Sasuke… And the skills she’d shown with that beautiful scythe… so surely the younger girl wouldn’t come out of it too injured.

“What the…?” Shikamaru muttered as a burst of ethereal blue flames surrounded a diving Hinata and Tenten’s weapons passed harmlessly through the heiress.

“Oh that’s just Osiris’ angelic nature, if you’re lucky the scythe might distort time-space for an instant and let you phase through just about anything.” Sasuke yawned after asking what had everyone gasping, he’d been checking out the blonde from Suna at the time.

“… You have a weapon that lets you perform the kind of things Time-Space ninjutsu users can only dream off… And you just gave it away?” Choji asked aloud, summing up the opinions of just about every shinobi in the stadium.

“Oh I’ve got another one lying around somewhere.” Sasuke shrugged as a rather confused Hinata decided to ‘act now, think later’ and push her advantage while Tenten was still in shock. “Besides it’s nothing compared to the Kamui!”

“… And what, exactly, is Kamui?” Temari inquired slowly. She’d been listening in, trying to gather any last minute Intel she could, and the idea that Konoha had some kind of secret time-space weapon lying around was very worrying… Although not as worrying as the small smirk Gaara’s Armour of Sand was wearing since any sign of emotion on that usually meant he was barely containing his insanity.

“Rare Dojutsu technique that occurs in a very small number of mutated sharingan… Getting said sharingan is a pain and even then you might end up with the Kotoamatsukami or more than likely the ‘Eyes of God’.” Sasuke them her as he started clapping, Tenten had just surrendered and so Hinata would be advancing further in the competition and should be feeling real good about herself.

“You named one of your clan techniques ‘the eyes of god’?” Naruto couldn’t help but ask. He knew Sasuke was a cocky little idiot but, even for him, that was some show of arrogance.

“I didn't name any of them, I just took the time to look it up after finding some scrolls on the sharingan.” Sasuke defended before breaking into another round of applause once Tenten and Hinata entered the booth. “Sweet party you two had down there... Kinda bummed I missed out on it now.”

“Shut up.” Tenten all but snarled, she hadn't forgotten what Naruto had said, while Hinata looked like she really wanted to ask him something but was too shy to bring it up in front of the others... That and Naruto openly praising her had the girl all flustered.

“Ahhh, that's cute.” Sakura cooed before leaping off the guard rail and landing at Genma's feet in that primal, yet dignified. Crouch she often adapted.

“Eh, what's cute?” Naruto whispered to Sasuke as Genma called for the other competitor.

“You could have the sharingan and you'd still be blind, wouldn't you?” Sasuke muttered into his palm as Shikamaru and Choji rolled their eyes at just how dense the blond could be. Deciding to do one more nice thing for the Hyuuga heiress, Sasuke spoke up. “Hey Hinata, Naruto is gonna take you out to dinner later.”

What followed was comical! Hinata fainted with a blissful look on her face, Tenten forced to catch her in case the girl cracked her skull on the tiled floor, while Sasuke tried to explain to Naruto that Hinata liked him. It took Shikamaru, Choji and even the girl from Suna pointing out evidence that she liked him before Naruto caught the hint... All the time Genma yelled up for Shikamaru to get down and start the match.

“Hey Shikamaru, shouldn't you really get going?” Choji asked once Naruto finally agreed to the meal, no promise of dating just the meal.

“Quiet you fool, another thirty seconds and I'll be disqualified.” Shikamaru hissed, but it was too late. Naruto and Sasuke, having realised Shikamaru was effectively interfering with Sakura's fight, caught a grip of him and tossed him over the railing. He landed awkwardly beside Sakura and Genma. “... Fine, I'm here.”

XX Chunin Exam Stadium, Konoha; Fire Country XX

“Now that we finally have our second competitor, this third match can begin.” Genma announced unenthusiastically. After the last two fights, not to mention what he'd heard about the prelims, the man was just too jaded to care. “Shikamaru Nara, Sakura Haruno... Fight!”

Neither made a move. Shikamaru because he knew he had no real way of dealing with someone as fast and stealthy as he'd seen Sakura be in her prelim match and Sakura because they were trying to think of whatever amazingly complex tactic Shikamaru must have developed to beat them, plus how to counter it. The pair stood, locked in a continuous cycle of awaiting the other's opening move, for some time.

“Huh... Guess I should start this.” Shikamaru sighed before drawing a pair of kunai and launching them at Sakura, who easily twisted to avoid them without calling out her 'Other'.

And so it went, Shikamaru's 'going through the motions' failing to challenge Sakura enough to transform and Sakura holding back their true abilities [because that's what Shinobi are meant to do] left the gather crowd sorely disappointed after the previous two incredible matches. In fact, by the time Sakura finally got in close enough to punch Shikamaru and lay him out, all the energy and excitement Hinata's back-to-back matches had generated was gone. Drained away and replaced with boredom.

“Now that that waste of everybody's time is finished, let us move onto Choji Akimichi Vs. Temari of Suna.” Genma yawned as before either had even left the arena floor.

When Sakura made it back to the competitor's booth they were practically spitting venom. Shikamaru had robbed them of a chance to showcase their abilities... Now that had to wait until the next round before anyone could see just how skilled a kunoichi they were. Sakura snapped at Sasuke when he congratulated him on making it to the next round and nearly ripped Naruto's head off when he tried to console her over not being able to show off. Although the news that Hinata had finally managed to get Naruto to notice her, even if it took Sasuke volunteering him, did bring a small smile to their face.

“That's wonderful news Hinata, we're delighted for you.” Sakura told Hinata, who was still riding on Cloud-9, once the shy heiress managed to finish telling her how the 'date' had been arranged.

“Uchiha!” Someone barked just as Choji and Temari began their battle. It was Gaara, the young Suna shinobi having finally reached the end of his patience. “Why did you surrender? Why will you not face me in the arena?”

“Because A) Hinata deserved that win, no doubt in my mind. B) My reason are my own...” Sasuke said, not wanting to admit to having been bribed in front of Hinata. “... And 3) because I knew I wouldn't be facing you.”

“Wouldn't be...? You think the 'monster girl' is your better?” Gaara demanded to know, he needed to know if killing her would validate his existence more than targeting the Uchiha.

“He may not look like much... May not know much about life and, unless he gets his head out of those dumb alchemy texts, I doubt he'll live much... But You have to face Naruto next.” Sasuke declared, no sign of humour or his usual playful nature anywhere on the Uchiha's face. “And that's why I know you and I would never, in a million universes, face each other.”

“Him!” Gaara snarled as he pointed at the red clad blond. “You think he'll defeat me?”

“I don't think it...” Sasuke snarled back as he draped an arm around Naruto in a show of support. “... I know it. In fact, of everyone in this tournament, Naruto Uzumaki is the one person I know would beat me. So you Gaara, and the little monster you got inside you, stopped being someone I even considered facing the second those balls got picked and he was announced as the one who would kick your ass!”

“As much as I appreciate the show of support, saying I’m the only one who you know could beat you has bumped me up on crazy boy’s ‘Kill List’.” Naruto hissed to his dark haired teammate. “Thanks for that.”

“You’re welcome.” Sasuke replied. “Any idea what’s with that girl…? Tenten?”

“Oh, I have no idea.” Naruto lied easily as he watched that girl from Suna use a powerful gust from her fan to pick up and direct several of the weapons left over from pervious fights straight at Choji.

“She keeps glaring and muttering and sending me the evil eye… I don’t get it, I haven’t done anything to her.” Sasuke went on, paying no mind to the fight even as Choji expanded his right arm to nearly Bijuu size and tried to crush Temari under it.

“Maybe that’s the problem, maybe she’s jealous you aren’t showing her any attention.” Naruto offered, wondering if he could get the Uchiha into even more trouble with the weapons user.

“Maybe she’s annoyed she didn’t get to fight you.” Sakura hissed, still clearly annoyed over how her fight went.

“You think?” Sasuke asked, hoping to find some way to stop the girl glaring at him. “Well I’ve been planning a rematch against Lee, neither of us really went all out… I could ask her if she wants a little match then and there as well.”

While Sasuke went off to propose the idea of a fight later that week Sakura smirked and Naruto glared at her for ruining his fun. When the fight below finally ended, Temari having detonated an explosive tag in Choji’s face to beat him, Naruto glanced over at Gaara.

“Crap.” Naruto muttered as his stare was matched with a vicious glare, and his potential death. “… Stupid Sasuke and his stupid mouth… I’m not unkillable like he is.”

 

XX Chunin Exam Stadium; Konoha, Fire Country –Going On At The Same Time XX

Choji Akimichi, despite his timid and kind nature, was proving to be a real challenge for Temari. The size and power behind his Human Boulder jutsu were a little too far up the ‘Unstoppable Force Scale’ for her Futon jutsu to counter. Sure she could pull out the big jutsu, maybe even summon that sickle carrying weasel, but she needed to keep as much chakra as possible for the upcoming Invasion. And while it galled at her to have to hold back as much as this, Temari had her orders.

Diving to the side to avoid another attempted flattening by the Akimichi heir Temari tried to come up with a plan. She could try and wait him out, maintaining that jutsu must be pretty chakra intensive, but that would require skill and luck for every one of his attacks… While he’d only need to get lucky once.

No, better to take him down as quick as possible… But how? Explosives were an option but she might need them later, ninja tools might work but she had a small number of them.

“Wait, the weapon user.” Temari hissed as she surveyed the arena, still littered with discarded weapons from Tenten’s clash against Hinata. Dodging another charge from her opponent Temari began formulating a plan.

Placing more space between them Temari smirked, flicking her fan partly open to make better use of its Futon enhancing abilities Temari generated a powerful gust of wind. The chakra infused wind rose up before focusing and, with a second flick of the war fan, was directed directly at Choji.

The young Akimichi, who had weathered several of Temari’s futon jutsu before, reacted by employing his family’s signature Expansion Jutsu and braced himself… Big mistake as he’d failed to notice the multiple kunai, shuirken and other miscellaneous weapons carried by the wind. The resulting wounds wouldn’t be enough to end the fight but Choji agility, already a bit slow in comparison to is opponent, definitely suffered.

“Dammit.” Choji hissed as the pain from his puncture wounds ruled out using his Human Boulder Jutsu. With Choji being forced to more or less remain stationary and hope to land a crushing blow via his Partial Expansion Jutsu it was quickly becoming clear who would be winning.

The confirmation came a moment later when, after deciding to just grow enormous and bellyflop on the entire arena, Choji had an explosive tag detonate in his face.

After the medics carted Choji off and Genma called the next match Gaara Body Flickered down with speeds that would have had the likes of Shisui ‘The Teleporter’ impressed. Naruto, not nearly as excited to for this match glared hatefully at Sasuke before making his way down.

Gaara was practically shaking with excitement. The Uchiha was strong enough to have mother worried and had named the boy, Naruto, has the only one who could beat him. If Gaara could defeat the boy it would be a sure way to validate his existence. The chance to feed Mother good blood was also nice, since then maybe she’d start talking again and not just occasionally whimper.

“The Uchiha said you are strong, make this a good fight.” Gaara growled as Naruto took his place across the arena from him.

“Sasuke says a lot of crap, this time he was right.” Naruto chuckled, laying on the bravado a bit thick to cover up his nervousness. Plans rarely survive encounters with the enemy and this was one enemy Naruto desperately wanted to avoid not surviving against.

“Alright you two… Fight!” Genma roared before fleeing for his life.

 Gaara’s sand surged forward, forming great lances of compacted sand.

Naruto clapped once and slapped the ground.

The entirety of the crowd gasped as nearly a third of the arena snapped up on Gaara like a comically oversized bear trap. The gasps intensified as the mass of earth shattered outward and Gaara, surrounded by a miniature sandstorm, stood unharmed. With a snarl Gaara sent his sand forward and put Naruto on the defensive, forcing him to keep moving or transmute small earthen walls for the waves of sand to break against.

A truly impressive display of agility from Konoha’s resident Uzumaki kept him one step ahead of Gaara’s sand. All this acrobatic action served two purposes; Firstly, and most importantly, it was keeping Naruto from becoming a bloody smear and secondly it was allowing him the time to think.

“Alright, lets try this.” Naruto gulped before he stopped darting about the place and faced the sand head on. As the mass of sand bore down on him he clapped his hands together, becoming the transmutation circle, and reached out. Gloved hand touched demon sand and alchemy took effect.

 A surge of arcane lightning radiated out from the point of impact and transfigured Gaara’s sand into crude glass, something the Suna shinobi could not control.

“Wha… What did you do?” Gaara gasped, as a moment of panic gripped him. Calming himself Gaara dropped his Armour of Sand, trading defence for a source of material to replace his offensive sand.

“Made one ugly art piece.” Naruto joked as he inspected the giant lump of misshaped glass. “Bet it’d sell for millions at some uppity art exhibit.”

“I see now why the Uchiha thinks you could beat him, I think this fight will be fun.” Gaara said, a truly unhinged smirk stretching across his face as he did so. Gaara directed nearly a third of his sand deep underground, where it began to grind up the earth and rock to produce more material for him to use. He’d need as much sand as possible for this because, Invasion Plans be damned, he was going to kill this boy.

XX Chunin Exam Stadium Competitor’s Booth; Konoha, Fire Country XX

“Huh, this is interesting.” Sasuke said, breaking the stunned silence that followed Naruto countering Gaara’s sand attack.

“What’s interesting?” Sakura asked.

“I think I’m gonna be getting a new weapon soon.” Sasuke explain, leaving confused looks on the faces of everyone present.

“Why, gonna go buy something when the tournament is over or something?” Choji asked.

“Nope, my weapons are the result of killing high level demons, then exercising considerable force of will to take control of their souls and mould them into a weapon imbued with their magic and powers.” Sasuke told them. “Well apart from Rebellion here, but that’s an entirely different type of Devil Arm.”

“Wait! You got your weapons by Killing Demons?!” Temari shrieked.

“Yep, and I think I’m gonna have a chance to add another to my collection if things keep going the way they are.” Sasuke chuckled. “Didn’t think a runt like Gaara would have it in him to hold back a Bijuu, but the kid’s doing pretty well. Calling it out in a steady and controlled manner… Pretty impressive.”

“Eh… Haha… You… You know he’s a…” Temari stuttered before, thankfully, Orochimaru’s spy in the Konoha ranks activated the genjutsu to signal the beginning of the invasion. Dropping every explosive tag she had left and lunging out the window Temari raced towards Gaara.

He might be a psycho, he might have threatened to kill her many times and he most definitely was an asshole… But he was her little brother and she had to at least get him away from the guy who casually admits to killing demons for their souls.

XX Chunin Exam Stadium, Konoha; Fire Country XX

The sudden feeling of lethargy crashed down on Naruto, distracting him and slowing his reactions just enough for Gaara’s sand to catch a grip of his arm. Snapping out of the genjutsu’s effects Naruto slapped his free hand against the sand and, thankfully, managed to line his palms up to create an alchemy circle [with the sand filling in for part of it]. Pulling his arm free from its glassy prison Naruto grumbled as his coat and shirt sleeve were shredded by the rough glass, good job it was the automail arm that had been caught.

Glancing towards Gaara, to see why the little psycho hadn’t attacked, Naruto saw the boy’s sister rushing towards him just before the competitor’s booth blew up. As if waiting for some signal, which was the burst of smoke from the Kage observation booth, hundreds of enemy shinobi began attacking.

Quickly transmuting a spear out of earth Naruto charged, he didn’t know what exactly was going on but it was clear that Suna had betrayed Konoha. This theory was given even further proof when a blade of chakra-infused chakra nearly took his head off.

Rolling into a defensive stance Naruto watched as Gaara’s puppet using brother and the half-faced sensei landed between him and Gaara.

“Temari! Kankuro! Get Gaara to the meeting point, these Oto nin will have the prepared sand waiting for the Shukaku’s awakening!” ‘Half-Face’ ordered as he formed another blade of wind and prepared to attack.

“No!” Gaara growled, bloodlust and complete insanity twisting his face into something from most people’s nightmares. “I’m gonna kill him now, I’ll kill everyone right now!”

The boy’s sand began to rise before stopping, suspended in the air around him as his face went blank for a moment. When any sign of life returned Gaara snarled in frustration. Temari yelped and jumped back as the sand gathered beneath Gaara and rose, carrying the boy into the sky above them.

“Go! Make sure Gaara reaches the meeting point!” ‘Half-face’ snapped again before engaging Naruto to keep him occupied.

“Tag!” Someone yelled before Naruto was happy slapped as a red blur rushed past. “Oh, and I called dibs on ‘Beach Boy’!”

“Goddammit Sasuke!” Naruto spat before remembering that the Suna jonin was there and ducking under another wind blade.

“Boo!” Sakura roared as she swung in and kicked the jonin hard enough to crack the protective plating in his flak jacket, and break a rib or two. Letting her ‘Venom Face’ peel back Sakura turned to Naruto and nodded towards the Kage Booth.

“When the hell did that happen?” Naruto asked, honestly shocked he’d missed someone planting a giant translucent purple box on the roof.

“A minute or two ago, just after that Suna girl tried to kill us all with some explosive tags but before the Suna and Oto ninja invaded.” Sakura shrugged. “Anyway, the snake guy from the forest is back and we’re calling dibs on him… Just letting you know.”

“What! Oh, come on.” Naruto complained as ‘Half-Face’ slowly rose to his feet completely ignored, until he was attacked by Genma.  “Sasuke gets the walking sandstorm and you get the guy who survived a fight with… Well you… Who am I meant to fight?”

“There are two separate armies invading the Village as you speak, I’m sure you’ll find someone to fight against.” Genma yelled. “So how about you start!?”

“That’s right, you are the ‘Army-Killer’ after all.” Sakura chuckled before her suit reformed around her head and she swung off to fight the weirdo from the forest.

“Dammit, this blows.” Naruto muttered before casually tossing his spear at an Oto ninja who just so happened to catch his eye.

“Augh! My SPLEEN!”

**_XXXXX_ **

**_Nearly caught up with what’s over on Fanfiction.net, nearly there._ **

**_I'm dyslexic, so please point out any mistakes in spelling or grammar [I spell things the way they do in England and Ireland, so some things may look off to Americans]. Please leave your opinion via review or send them via PM, I'd like to know what you think. Well, I think that's everything I've gotta say so, hope you enjoyed the chapter._ **

**_This is Highvalour saying bye and thanks for reading_ **


	9. Chaotic Crush!

**_Originally written between March 26th h 2015 and January 2nd 2017._ **

**_Barring spelling mistakes I noticed afterwards no changes have been made since this stuff was originally written… This story is a timeline charting my growth as a writer, and that’s just sad!_ **

**_All Intellectual Properties Belong To Their Rightful Owners_ **

**_XXXXX_ **

XX Forest Surrounding Konoha; Fire Country XX

Leaping from tree to tree Sasuke hummed a jaunty tune and searched for any sign of the Suna shinobi sibling team’s location. He was starting to regret calling this one, sure he’d be facing a Bijuu but if he’d gone after the snake asshole or the invading army at least he wouldn’t be bored.

Spotting movement ahead Sasuke drew Ebony and Ivory and let off a few shots – not to hit anything but to announce his presence.

“Shit, go and get Gaara to the ritual site… I’ll hold him off.” The face paint wearing weirdo called out to the blonde as he turned to face Sasuke down.

“Kankuro -” The blonde began only to be interrupted by the psychotic redhead.

“Finish him quick Uchiha… I want the pleasure of ripping you apart and I don’t want to wait.” After revealing his complete lack of anything resembling faith in his teammate the ginger fruitcake took off, the blonde following after a second or two of hesitation.

"… Really?" Sasuke deadpanned as Kankuro revealed his two puppets and adapted a defensive stance. "I'm here to fight the big, bad Bijuu… Not some stupid puppets."

XX Chunin Exam Stadium Kage Observation Box, Konoha XX

Scaling the walls of the stadium Sakura made it to the roof where, if the giant glowing purple box was any indication, shit was going down. Looking from the giant glowing box to the four gathered ANBU and back Sakura felt they had to ask a very important question.

“Why aren’t you helping the Hokage?”

"Holy FuckNuggets!” One of the ANBU yelped, having only heard third-hand accounts of the pre-lims and Sakura’s ‘other’.

“That’s the Four Violet Flames Barrier Formation.” The ANBU in a Captain’s pale cloak explained, his age and experience allowing him to hide his own shock at the symbiote’s monstrous form and hold off his questions for the time being. “None of us have the kind of power needed to shatter it.”

“That’s right losers!”  A pink haired girl on the far side of the barrier yelled out. “So you ANBU trash and the skank can clear out, no way you’re getting in!”

“Skank?!” Sakura growled lowly.

“Yeah, skank!” The pink haired Oto Nin replied. “Look at you, running around in that skin tight spandex… Actually, is it even spandex or did you just slap on some body paint and decide to run around naked?”

“… We’re gonna enjoy hurting you.” Sakura hissed before approaching the barrier and inspecting it. Turning to the gathered ANBU team, and ignoring the further insults from the pink haired bitch, Sakura smirked. “Follow us.”

Turning to look at their commander the other ANBU waited for his order. Glancing from the barrier, which kept him from fulfilling his mission of protecting the Hokage, to the ledge of the roof where Sakura had dropped off the face palmed.

“… Why didn’t I think of that?” The Commander sighed before ordering his men to follow.

“Hey Asshole, you really think you’re gonna get through our barrier?” The Oto kunoichi yelled. “Ha! As if, we are the Sound Four! Lord Orochimaru’s personal bodyguards. You have no chance of breeching this barrier!”

“Don’t have to breech it, just have to bypass it.” The Commander chuckled as the roof beneath the kunoichi’s feet exploded and a pair of jet black clawed hands shot up.

“Peek-a-boo!” Sakura roared as she caught a grip of the foul mouthed kunoichi and dragged her down into the tower proper.

The barrier soon collapsed, the other ANBU having targeted the three other casters, and allowed both ANBU and genin to rush forward to assist the Hokage.

**_X_ **

“What?! Oh crap not you again!” Orochimaru yelped.

“Is that… Is that the crest of the Tsuchigumo clan?” The revived Hashirama Senju asked as he watched the approaching Konoha reinforcements.

“Maybe, if it is then it means Monkey was a good choice as successor to get them as our allies.” His brother and successor Tobirama supplied before both had their will suppressed by Orochimaru.

“Kill It!” Orochimaru ordered as he drew the Sword of Kusanagi and prepared for battle. “I’ll kill you personally Sensei, the Hokage can warm up on that freak you planted in Kakashi’s team.”

“… Hahahaha.” Despite the seriousness of the situation, despite the risk he faced, Sarutobi couldn’t help but laugh at what Orochimaru’s actions revealed. “You’re afraid of a genin!”

“N-no, I just realised the pleasure of killing the Hokage should be mine alone.” Orochimaru claimed, trying to cover himself. “I-I just want to make sure that I preformed the Impure World Resurrection correctly on them, that they are at full power for when I use them to destroy Konoha!”

Deciding to kill his former sensei quickly, lest the old man mock him any further in his hour of triumph, Orochimaru adjusted his grip on the Kusanagi Blade and rushed forward. His attempted beheading of the Hokage was countered by one of the ANBU, parrying the swing with his ninjato. Twisting aside to avoid the counter attack Orochimaru was forced to disengage to avoid being brained by his sensei’s Adamantine Staff – stupid transformed monkey – Orochimaru decided he’d had enough of being on the defensive and attacked.

Using the Wild Water Wave jutsu, combined with several of his own body’s unique modifications – primarily the ones that allowed his saliva glands to generate a variety of venoms and poisonous compounds – to impersonate a spitting cobra.

“Okay… That’s just vile.” One of the ANBU groaned as another frantically threw off his cloak and chest plate before Orochimaru’s attack ate through the material and got at him.

“Kukukuku, well there’s more to come my little Ox-faced foe.” Orochimaru cackled before extending his tongue and running it along the blade, coating the legendary weapon in his lethal saliva… of course the whole menacing appearance thing was ruined when that black suited little monster dropped down in front of him and then darted off to the side, startling Orochimaru and causing him to cut himself on his sword.

Before he could curse his zombified minions for failing to kill her Orochimaru’s thought process was halted by a single query. _“Why am I suddenly in the shade?’_

**_X_ **

Sakura clicked their tongue in frustration as Orochimaru just about managed to avoid being crushed by Hashirama’s Mokuton attack, they’d been trying to set up that little bit of ‘friendly fire’ for over a minute.

Looking to where Tobirama was pulling himself together following their last attack, literally since they’d ripped off both arms and caked his head in webbing, Sakura would have been skewered had her ‘Other’ not provided optical input as an alert.

“Dammit, nothing seems to stop them for long.” Sakura growled before launching two thick lines of webbing to stick Hashirama’s hands together, and stop him using that bloody annoying wood jutsu of his.

Ducking under a roundhouse kick from Tobirama Sakura silently thanked whatever it was that made the revived Kage so slow in their movements and sluggish in their attacks. Launching a quick jab Sakura yelped as Tobirama caught their wrist and twisted, tossing the symbiotic pair across the rooftop – Slow and Sluggish didn’t mean unskilled.

Recovering mid-air and landing in a crouch Sakura began to plot a strategy, formulate some kind of plan, to finish these walking corpses once and for all. And, as is _always_ the case for those blessed with luck, just happened to catch the tail end of a mocking comment by Orochimaru at his old teacher.

“- do sensei, summon the Shinigami to seal them?” The freaky snake guy laughed as he dodged a lunging strike by a Boar masked ANBU agent, swiping the ANBU’s kunai and using it to carve a deep gash along the man’s upper arm.

“… That’s why I went with Minato once Jiraiya turned down the position of Hokage, you never truly understood what it really meant to be Hokage.” Old man Sarutobi sighed. “And yes, if it comes to it I will seal them using the Shinigami!”

_“Interesting.”_ Sakura thought as Hashirama rushed forward to attack. Pushing off from the roof Sakura sailed right over the Kage’s head and, after jamming their hand into said Kage’s mouth as they went overhead, ripped the upper portion of the Village’s founder’s head clean off. Tossing the quickly decaying mass of flesh at Tobirama before rushing forward, dodging kunai Sakura launched a pair of thick sticky strands of webbing and used them to pull themselves forwards.

Catching the Suiton using Kage square in the chest Sakura knocked Tobirama over and, perching atop the revived man’s chest, began to pound on his face and upper body until nothing but dust and ash remained.

“Watch your Six!” The ANBU Captain growled before a torrent of intense flames incinerated a mass of Hashirama’s roots before they could crush Sakura.

“… Thanks Dad.” Sakura sighed as she jumped off Tobirama’s battered form to land beside him. “…Was planning to use those roots to further damage the walking corpse… Nice going.”

“Sure you did.” Kizashi Haruno snorted, breaking one of the ANBU’s core rules and acknowledging his identity while in costume. “Any ideas?”

“The old man mentioned sealing them via Shinigami… Any idea how to do that?” Sakura asked as Tobirama slowly reformed and Hashirama readied another attack.

“Yeah… But let’s leave that as a last resort okay, your mother would kill me if I died today.” Kizashi said.

“Oh right, happy anniversary.”

“Thank you, now if only I could find a way to restrain them long enough to slap some suppressing seals on them.” Kizashi sighed. “That would weaken and hold them long enough for us to deal with Orochimaru and get them somewhere safe.”

“We can restrain them, do you want to go for ‘Woody’ or the ‘Water Boy’ first?” Sakura shrugged, sidestepping in the same motion to avoid a kunai from Tobirama ‘Water Boy’ Senju.

“Hashirama Senju -” Kizashi began, stressing the former Kage’s full name to remind his daughter to show some respect – That teammate of hers was proving to be a real bad influence. “- is one of the two strongest shinobi this village has ever called its own… But Tobirama could prove even more dangerous if he begins to employ his earlier incarnation of the Hiraishin jutsu, or those theoretical jutsu especially designed for use while under the Impure World Resurrection jutsu, we could be in serious trouble. “

“So we deal with Tobirama first then.” Sakura shrugged. “Distract Hashirama and we’ll swap out when ‘Tobi’ is down for the count.

“Wait… Must get it from her mother.” Kizashi grumbled before drawing his tanto and facing off against the First Hokage, a daunting task indeed. Deciding, for poetic sake, to start off with an old Uchiha technique he’d picked up years ago Kizashi channelled katon chakra into his sword before swinging it in a cutting motion to launch a wave of intense flames forward.

Hashirama’s reaction was to create a barrier of wood to intercept the flames, exactly like Kizashi hoped for. A half dozen kunai, each with a high powered explosive tag, followed the flames and on detonation turned the wooded barrier into a barrage of splinters and shrapnel!

While Kizashi faced down the first Hokage the Second Hokage was struggling against Sakura. Without another to force his opponent to divide their attention, and with his will and personality suppressed, Tobirama was being overpowered by the speed and power Sakura’s ‘Other’ granted. Reactions, and flexibility, well above anything human made landing blows difficult while Sakura’s close range fighting style prevented him from getting the needed space –and therefore time – necessary to pull the water vapour from the air and magnify it with his chakra to a useable level.

All Tobirama had access to was his saliva, which wasn’t much good against someone who can react to and dodge projectiles traveling at speeds well above his ‘spit bullets’ and only served to annoy Sakura.

“That’s it!” Sakura snarled before letting out a spray of sickly green saliva. “You wanna spit, we’ll spit right back!”

While Tobirama avoided the spray, which began eating away at the roof slates, a glob of impact webbing caught him in the face gave him pause. Three more, while Tobirama was trying to claw the webbing from his face, gummed up his hands and feet. From there it was a simple job of circling him and quickly firing off enough webbing to cocoon the revived Kage. Stopping to think for a second Sakura ripped up a roof tile and stuck it to the outside of the cocoon, wouldn’t do for Kizashi to try and seal the Second Hokage only to get himself stuck to the cocoon as well… Speaking of Kizashi.

“Gah… Dammit!”

Turning Sakura watched as Kizashi tried to put as much distance between himself and Hashirama, all the while clutching at his chest over a section of armour that was heavily cracked and damaged.

“Tag!” Sakura snarled as their first collided with the side of Hashirama’s head, knocking him back several feet.

“Thanks… You trap the Second?” Kizashi whizzed.

“Yep, go seal him and we’ll deal with this.” Sakura replied before catching a grip of Kizashi and tossing him out of the way of Hashirama’s attack. “We got this!”

“Aaagh.” Kizashi groaned as he landed, and jostled his damaged ribcage. Making his way towards the cocooned Kage, and giving the bubbling puddle of green gunk that was steaming and slowly eating into the roof, Kizashi began the long and complicated sequence of hand seals necessary to perform the fuinjutsu.

Sakura Haruno might have been the worst possible opponent for Hashirama Senju in his current state. Not only were they fast and agile, but their very fighting style was specifically suited to fighting on multiple parallel and perpendicular levels –never mind the stealth capabilities from being able to mimic their surroundings – and the fabled village leader was being pressed hard… Never mind that every mass of twisted roots created to skewer them was a mass they could literally disappear behind while every giant tree formed to crush or entrap them just provided Sakura with more terrain to scurry across.

Although, to his credit, he was doing better than his brother. At least in that he was able to dodge some of Sakura’s attacks and launch counterattacks – Not that many worked against someone who can see out of any part thanks to the inky black substance that served as their second skin.

“You’re boring us, just give up.” Sakura sighed as they ducked under a quick jab and countered with a leg sweep.

Dodging the volley of wooden stacks that had been launched from Hashirama’s forearm Sakura fired off two thick strands of webbing which Hashirama dove aside to avoid, which was pointless since he wasn’t the target.

“Timber!” Sakura roared as their pulled on the strands and brought a pair of the smaller trees Hashirama had created down on top of him.

Not thinking for a second that was enough to get him Sakura took off, just narrowly avoiding the massive tree that erupted beneath where they’d been standing. Web swinging up into the thick foliage created by Hashirama’s careless silviculture Sakura mimicked the area around them and vanished from sight.

Slowly creeping along a particularly thick branch Sakura watched as Hashirama fruitlessly tried to spot them. Smirking they slowly positioned themselves above Hashirama before launching several strands of webbing down, catching Hashirama by the head and arms – meaning when he was pulled up off his feet he looked like a frantically trashing marionette.

Dropping down Sakura began cocooning but soon found that the older Senju brother was far harder to trap. Wooden spikes, thicker than their arm, erupted from the cocoon constantly forcing them to use more and more webbing. Tighter and tighter they wrapped, slowly compressing the revived Kage until the cocoon was barely big enough to contain Sakura… Which meant Hashirama Senju, legendary shinobi and co-founder of the first Shinobi Village, was little more than a mass of dust and mushed body parts.

“Hurry up, we don’t know how long this’ll hold him!” Sakura yelled.

“Coming.” Kizashi yelled back as he stopped to slice a chunk of bark off a tree, wouldn’t do to get himself stuck to whatever the hells it was his daughter had used to cocoon the Kage in –speaking of which, they’d be having a long talk about what happened here later.

“Took your time.” Sakura snorted once Hashirama was sealed properly.

“Three broken ribs, five more cracked and a collapsed lung… I’d like to see you do better.” Kizashi snapped. “Now come on, let’s go help the Lord Hokage against Orochimaru.”

“Sure, wonder how the other two are doing?” Sakura wondered as they web swung towards the sound of metal clashing and frustrated bitching.

 XX Forest Surrounding Konoha; Fire Country XX

Kankuro was probably Suna’s poster-boy for ‘Middle Child Syndrome’. His older sister Temari had received tutoring by the best Futon users in all of Suna – which more or less meant she’d been trained by the best Futon users on the planet. Rasa had also insisted on his first born receiving a thorough education in tactics, diplomacy, politics and oration… In other words The Fourth Kazekage had made damn sure that his daughter received all the training and advantages she’d need to succeed him as ruler of Suna one day.

Kankuro’s younger brother, Gaara ‘of the Desert’, had received a lot of attention throughout his life… Being a bipolar, sociopathic weapon of mass destruction generally lends itself well to being the centre of attention. Trained by Rasa in mastering the sand he controlled, and trained in both situational awareness and reaction time by the semi-regular ‘assassins’ Rasa tended to send when he couldn’t just have a particularly annoying shinobi executed,  Combining their father’s dust techniques with the Shakaku’s instant protective shielding made Gaara a terror to fight against on the battlefield… The bloodlust and complete disregard for human life made him a terror to fight alongside on the battlefield…

Compared to siblings like that, what hope had Kankuro? He’d never received special tutoring in politics or orating. He couldn’t mimic his father’s sadly recessive kekkei genkai via demonic possession… All he had were the pair of puppets he found, hidden away in the back of an old storage shed, and the skills he worked hard to earn with them.

In any other story, in most other fables, Kankuro would have been the hero. The forgotten child who rose to prominence through hard work and sweat… Of course, neither Karasu nor Kuroari could really hold up to the firepower of Pandora!

Kuroari’s barrel body was pierced and shattered by a single arrow launched from PF013: Epidemic and a rocket from PF124: Hatred reduced Karasu to splinters and smouldering rags.

“Wha-?” Kankuro gasped, unable to understand just how his puppets had been destroyed so easily, so quickly. So shocked was he that Kankuro couldn’t even process Sasuke closing the distance between them before it was too late.

Rebellion came down hard, the flat of the blade striking and shattering Kankuro’s collarbone. The chakra strings controlling Kuroari failed and the nearly eviscerated puppet flopped down onto a low hanging branch.

Shifting his stance Sasuke swung Rebellion like a baseball bat, the flat of the blade catching the now only aware Kankuro just above the elbow. His humerus snapped like a twig, while his tenth, ninth and eighth ribs on that side cracked.

“Ooof.” Kankuro grunted as the air rushed from his lungs and he was knocked sideways with enough force to cross the clearing and slam into a tree.

“First I whip it out! Then I thrust it...!” A pair of slim straight blades, surrounded by pulsing red auras, raced towards Kankuro and embedded themselves in the tree he was slumped against. Glancing from side to side, Kankuro saw that the blades had pierced and pinned his top to the tree.

“With great force! Every angle...! It penetrates!” Eight more glowing blades rained down, pinning his legs to the ground. Looking  up Kankuro watched as the Uchiha landed, the bastard’s sword gone and replaced by some strange skull shaped backpack.

“Until...! With great strength! I... ram it in! And in the end…” With each pause Sasuke reached back and, from the tips of the large spikes extending from the skull, plucked two more blades. The blades found themselves being used to further pin Kankuro to the tree by his sides and arms.

“… I leave you here, denied release!”

“W-What?! Hey, g-get back here!” Kankuro yelled out as Sasuke turned and began to leave.

Sasuke pulled two more blades free but, rather than used them on him instead tossed one up into the trees behind him. The other was used like a walking stick.

A rose, which had not been there earlier, was removed from his lapel and sniffed before the tossed blade exploded and destroyed the branch Kuroari was lying on.

“Use your toy and get out of here… What’s coming next is no place for a human like you.” Sasuke advised as the rose was tucked back into his lapel and he set off. “I’ll try and send your sister after you.”

“What… What about Gaara?” Kankuro called out, trying to keep his voice even and hopefully free of desperation. “What about my brother?”

“… We’ll see.”

XX Streets of Konoha, Konoha; Fire Country XX

Naruto made his way through the streets and alleys of Konoha. A misspent youth meant he knew the layout of his Village better than just about anyone out there. Now Naruto may not have had the strength or agility of Sakura, and there was no way he could match the frankly overpowered healing and combat ability of Sasuke, but Naruto could do something his teammates could not.

He could act as an effective support.

Naruto could create or destroy cover as well as the very best Doton masters. He could give favourable terrain to allies while turning the terrain against enemies. Clearing debris trapping friendlies and civilians alike with but a clap of his hands. But, above all that, the single greatest advantage Naruto offered over the powers of his teammates was a tactical mind.

The wall behind a Shakuton user from Suna, locking her in place and preventing the necessary hand signs to create more of those floating fireball things.

“Nice work Kid!” A sword wielding kunoichi, who not a year ago had spat at and threatened to cut Naruto for getting in her way, called out as she rushed from the temporary cover Naruto had created and cut down an Oto nin with weird vine like tattoos all over his face and neck.

“Kid! A Feudal Lord from Fang Country took shelter with his retinue in that store, but rubble has them trapped!” A chunin with a thick beard and more kunai than anyone not named Tenten would normally carry called out. “Give them an escape route while I provide cover.”

Ducking under a kunai swing from a Suna shinobi, and after using the pommel of his spear to knock out a few of the shinobi’s teeth, Naruto spied a quick glance at the store in question. It was the third in a row of about nine terraced buildings that started with an overpriced weapons store and ended with a bookstore Naruto was found of.

“On it!” Naruto called out as he adjusted his grip on his spear and, before the Suna Shinobi could recover from the pommel to the face, rammed it through the flak jacket and into the boy kid’s intestines.

Rushing across the street, keeping half an eye out for incoming attacks, Naruto brought his hands together and slammed his palms against the side of the shop. Creating an opening just big enough for him to fit through while a seemingly endless supply of kunai intercepted anything that so much as looked like it was even considering targeting him Naruto entered the store and off the battlefield.

Of course when the Feudal Lord’s Samurai bodyguard reacted to Naruto’s appearance by drawing his katana and trying to behead Naruto, the teenage alchemist wondered if he was safer outside.

“Hey, watch it!” Naruto snapped as the katana bounced off his forearm with a loud clang. “Konoha crest, I’m one of the good guys!”

“To protect my liege I felt it better to strike than check.” The samurai snorted, brushing aside Naruto’s very valid complaints about the attempted beheading.

“… You know I can see why the Senju, the Uchiha, the Hyuuga and the Kaguya all ganged up and killed the lot of you samurai years ago.” Naruto said as he bulled past the arrogant dickweed and stomped over to the wall farthest from where he entered. Clapping his hands together, and focusing on how he wish to rearrange the structure of his target, Naruto reached out and pressed both palms against the floor.

A flash of light, the crackle of alchemic energies and the wall ground before him warped. A shallow trench, that stretched under the walls between them and the corner store at the end of the street, had formed.

“Right, in you get… Let’s go!” Naruto ordered when the Feudal Lord and his retinue didn’t budge.

“… It doesn’t look very clean.” The Feudal Lord complained, face scrunched up in disgust.

“And this escape route leads further into the Village, where the fighting is.” The samurai bodyguard objected. “We must make for the nearest gate and escape this warzone.”

“Great idea.” Naruto said sarcastically. “Let’s send his lordship over there outside the Village walls, where the two invading armies are coming from, instead of towards both Hokage’s Tower and the civilian shelters… You know, where the defences will be strongest!”

“… My Lord…” The samurai began, and from the look on his face the words might have actually hurt. “… the boy is right, we should make for the centre of the Village.”

“Fine, but someone clean that mess first.” The Feudal Lord ordered. “This is a new set of very expensive robes and I will not see them dirtied becau-”

“You can get dust on them, or you can get blood on them! Your choice.” Naruto growled as he grabbed the front of the Lord’s robes and dragged him to the edge of the trench. “If those invaders find you, they’ll kill you. You get that right? They aren’t taking prisoners, they won’t take you for ransom and if you do survive they won’t treat you with whatever level of respect you think you actually deserve… Now, please, get. In. The. Hole!”

XX Banks of the Naka River, Konoha; Fire Country – Fifteen Minutes Later XX

Naruto hoped he’d never have to deal with that idiot from Fang Country ever again. When he’d finally got it through the idiot’s head he his life was at risk, and maybe ruining an already ugly robe to survive was smart, they had escaped and met up with several other Konoha shinobi.

Naruto had flogged the Feudal Lord off as quick as he could and run before anyone could object. In fact, Naruto hadn’t stopped fleeing until he witnessed a building destroying snake get crushed by an aquamarine coloured Toad the size of a small mountain… A sword carrying toad bigger than any building in Konoha appearing out of thin air and crushing a massive snake would give just about anyone pause.

After staring for a moment dumbfounded Naruto shuck himself and rejoined the battle to protect Konoha.

Having joined up with a group of chunin Naruto hung back and focused on manipulating the environment to his allies’ advantage. Twisting the walls of buildings to crush unaware enemies, reshaping the ground beneath their foes to pin. Naruto and the chunin made a pretty good team, working together to take down the Oto and Suna shinobi, until the ground beneath them shattered as hundreds upon hundreds of spikes ripped forth, skewering any shinobi caught in the attack. Naruto, who’d been at the back, had managed to avoid the attack but most of his allies hadn’t been so lucky.

Naruto stared in surprise as such an attack was something of a standard tactic for him via his alchemy but what he was looking at appeared to be formed from calcium and phosphorous, in other words –

“Bones?” Naruto muttered in confusion.

Tightening his grip on his spear Naruto looked past the bloody mass of spikes to find a white haired boy, maybe a little older than he was, with his palms firmly planted on the ground. The boy really seemed to be into body art, seeing as how much of his visible flesh was decorated with tattoos. Thick black lines, forming a kind of maze like pattern, covered his face and hands. Those on his chest all seemed to originate from a trio of slightly curved lines located just over the boy's breastbone.

"You… You oppose Lord Orochimaru." The boy grunted as he pulled one of the bones in his forearm out and gripped it like a sword. "I will not allow you to continue!"

The strange boy – who in his light lavender, loose-fitting shirt, black mid-calf length leggings and ridiculous inverted bow/belt was rocking a bit of a ‘rent boy’ look – rushed forward and only barely failed to impale a Konoha kunoichi. As the kunoichi twisted out of the way a sword wielding shinobi rushed in from the side for a killing blow.

‘Rent Boy’ twisted on his heel, half a dozen eight inch bone spikes erupting from his forearm, and backhanded his attacker aside. A jerk of his arm and the spikes launched out straight at the kunoichi.

“No you don’t!” Naruto growled as he slammed his palms to the ground and transmuted the earth and bony spikes into a wall to protect her.

“This guy’s on a whole other level to the other bastards we’ve fought.” The kunoichi, whose name Naruto hadn’t caught, hissed as she put some distance between herself and ‘Rent Boy’.

“Yeah.” Naruto agreed as he spied a glance over at the wounded swordsman, who Naruto was pretty sure was named Shinji. Looking back to the white haired asshole Naruto made a decision. “Grab Shinji and go for backup… I’ll keep him here until you get back!”

“What, are you nuts?!” The kunoichi snapped before both had to leap apart to avoid a charging attack – seems ‘Rent Boy’ didn’t think talking was a free action. “You’re just a genin, if anything I should be ordering you to take him and run!”

“You’re bigger, you’d be able to carry him easier.” Naruto argued as he adjusted his grip on his spear and thrust, forcing ‘Rent Boy’ to break off. “You take him and I’ll hold this guy off until you can get reinforcements.”

Rushing forward before she could argue Naruto clashed with ‘Rent Boy’, leaving the kunoichi to grab Shinji and find backup.

Ducking and diving, thrusting and twisting, Naruto did everything he could to land a good blow with his spear but his opponent was too fast. The older boy didn’t so much avoid the attacks as dance around them. All the time using the multitude of spikes jutting from his forearm and that bone sword he’d made from a femur to launch his own attacks.

“This ain’t working.” Naruto grumbled as he jumped back and planted his spear in the ground. Clapping quickly Naruto prepared to transmute the battlefield and attack with it… Of course ‘Rent Boy’ had other ideas.

He must have been observing because the second Naruto went to touch the ground the invader’s eyes widened slightly and he acted quickly. The forearm bones were launched, propelled by a swinging motion and the rapid formation of new bone beneath.

“Crap!” Naruto yelped as he was forced to quickly alter his planned transmutation from offensive pillar creation to defensive wall formation. Naruto barely managed to alter the paving slabs and bony spikes into a wall before the projectiles impacted, one actually partly punching through! “… Okay… You’re a little stronger than I gave you credit for…”

“With Lord Orochimaru’s power flowing through me, my Shikotsumyaku cannot be defeated.” The boy declared, a look of happiness on his face. “My kekkei genkai makes my bones unblockable blades, impenetrable armour… Against me, all trash will be swept away!”

“… You must be pretty important to have received ‘Lord Orochimaru’s Power’ like that… Got a name to go with the fame?” Naruto tried, he was buying time and one of the best ways to buy time was to get the bad guy monologuing.

“My name is Kimimaro and I don’t care for yours!” ‘Rent Boy’, I mean Kimimaro, declared before rushing forward… Seems he wasn’t the talkative type.

Swinging that bone sword of his in wild, erratic but focused slashes Kimimaro put Naruto on the defensive. Without his spear, and unable to get the space and time needed to create a sword of his own, Naruto couldn’t do much other than use his automail arm to block or deflect Kimimaro’s attacks. Knocking aside Kimimaro’s weapon Naruto attacked with a quick jab to the face, and nearly broke his knuckles in the process.

“Crap you’ve got a harder head than Sasuke!” Naruto yelped as he jumped back. Clapping his hands together Naruto formed a short sword from the ground to better deal with the Orochimaru worshipping weirdo.

As the two clashed, bone and transmuted steel locking, the differences between them became clear. Naruto had the advantage in actual skill and adaptability, easily darting around the ‘battle dancer’ Kimimaro and mixing up his style by using his organic hand for quick and nimble deflective manoeuvres before swapping to his automail arm for stronger strikes. Of course, that’s not to say that Kimimaro wasn’t giving as good as he got.

The white haired pretty boy was clearly superior in terms of speed and strength, using his nearly overwhelming physical ability to keep Naruto on the defensive.

“Dammit, can’t believe I have to-”Naruto began as he deflected a strike from Kimimaro and released his grip on his sword. As Kimimaro instinctively tracked the blade arcing through the air Naruto brought his hands together and reached out for Kimimaro’s wrist.

“Fool!” Kimimaro snorted as he prepared to form a multitude of spikes to pierce Naruto’s hand… However before the spikes could even begin to form the Oto ninja let out an agonised shriek  and jerked back as a surge of blood red electricity formed around his arm.

“Damn you for making me do that.” Naruto sighed as he wiped the blood from his face.

“Wha… Hu… Gah… W-What, what… was  that?” Kimimaro whimpered as he clutched at the bloody stump that was his lower right arm. Almost everything below the elbow had been destroyed in a flash of red, reduced to blood and nothing else.  Focusing Kimimaro caused the bony stumps of his radius and ulna to expand into a solid cap to try and stop the blood flow.

“I stopped after step two.” Naruto told him. “Alchemy has three steps to it: Comprehension, deconstruction and finally reconstruction… I just stopped after I broke down your arm.”

“I-I… How?” Kimimaro snarled, the fear and terror in his voice slowly giving way to a barely contain fury at being wounded by this ‘low level trash’.

“Human body is made up of water, carbon, ammonia, lime, phosphorus, salt, saltpeter, sulphur, fluorine, iron, silicon and about fifteen other elements.” Naruto explained. “Knowing this ahead of time, step one was easy… Ending the process after step two took effect was even easier… I’m an alchemist, and I’m the worst person in this whole village for you to fight.”

“You… You insignificant… You pathetic… You think you can compete with me!” Kimimaro began to scream as his tattoos began to glow a deep orange before expanding all across his body. As the burning mark spread across his skin it left the flesh darkened and warped. Kimimaro’s body mutated, bony spikes jutted out from his upper back while his lower back grew out into a lizard like tail. The cap on his destroyed arm slowly extended, twisting and growing into a great lance like spike as the boy’s mental state took a nose dive. “I am Lord Orochimaru’s chosen! I am his strongest! His most Loyal, against my power and my convictions you cannot win!”

“Conviction is all well and good-” Naruto began as he slid his foot forward, getting his toes under his discarded sword. “- but in the face of facts it means nothing.”

“DIE!” Kimimaro screamed as he rushed forward, moving far faster than before, having skipped the first step of his Clematis Dance technique and going straight to its ‘flower’.

“No.” Naruto said simply as he ducked, kicked his sword up and brought his hands together to turn himself into an alchemy circle. Within Kimimaro’s defence Naruto snatched up his sword with one hand while his other launched forward and impacted the older boy’s chest. Before Kimimaro could wonder what had been done to him the sword came in, piercing him beneath the armpit and cutting through his ribs with ease.

Turning slightly Naruto pushed Kimimaro away and let the boy fall to the ground as the burning reappeared and retreated back towards his sternum, taking the dinosaur transformation with it as it went.

“Jugo… I’m sorry I won’t be -” Kimimaro wheezed as he bled out, dying before he could finish.

When reinforcements arrived they found Naruto sitting back against a partly broken fence, catching his breath. When asked what happened Naruto’s answer made no sense to them.

“Calcium makes up both bone and chalk… And one was easier to pierce than the other.”

XX Forest Surrounding Konoha; Fire Country XX

An effective combination of Tricks and Dashes saw Sasuke quickly catch up with Gaara and Temari – the desert dwellers not being all that experienced with moving from tree to tree.

A volley of rounds from Pandora’s PF262: Jealousy form announced his arrival in style.

“That was fast, Uchiha… I’m glad Kankuro didn’t keep you long.” Gaara chuckled as he turned, face twisted into a vicious smirk.

“D-Dammit.” Temari cursed, looking from Sasuke to Gaara. “Gaara, keep going! You’re nearly to the ritual site, go and I’ll hold him off.”

“No!” Gaara snarled. “I want to kill him now… Mother’s talking again, calling for his filthy blood… I’ll feed mother now!”

“Gaara! Go Now!” Temari roared, the level of authority and presence in her tone giving Gaara pause. The look the small redhead was throwing his older sister was priceless. “We’re two minutes from the Ritual Site, get there, power up and then come back to squash him!... MOVE!”

… Gaara broke his staring battle with Sasuke to look at Temari, looked away and then turned tail to run. Not taking her eyes of Sasuke, Temari positioned herself between him and her retreating brother – Iron fan drawn and at the ready.

“hehehe, now normally I like girls that can take charge but my fight is with gingivitis over there.” Sasuke sighed dismissively before trying to jump after Gaara. “just stay out of my way.”

Sasuke made it maybe five feet before a torrent of razor sharp wind tore into the branch he’d been about to land on.

“… Really? Huh, fine I guess I can play for a minute.”

Leaping over another gust Sasuke wiped out PF262: Jealousy and fired off three bursts. Temari dodged the first two and deflected the third with a wall of wind – seems firing small, demonically charged lumps of lead into a hurricane wasn’t the best way to kill someone. Clicking his tongue in annoyance, Sasuke really wanted to fight Gaara, Sasuke decided to switch things up just a little. PF013: Epidemic’s grenade tipped arrows did little better than Jealousy’s bullets as Temari’s wind.

“You just have to make things difficult, don’t you?” Sasuke sighed before Tricking out of the way of another razor wind. Kicking off the trunk of a tree Sasuke morphed Pandora into PF124: Hatred and fired off a trio of high explosive rockets.

KABOOM!

Sure Temari’s Wind Scythe Jutsu had deflected the warheads, but their blast radius was still enough to catch her. Knocked off her feet Temari only just managed to replace herself with a segment of broken log before Sasuke brought the flat of Rebellion’s blade down atop her head.

“Seriously, just stay out of my way.” Sasuke groaned as he dashed clear of another blast of razor wind. Arming PF398: Revenge, Pandora’s most powerful ‘base form’, Sasuke fired off an immediate shot.

The searing beam rushed forward, catching Temari’s side and drawing a gasping scream of pain from the Suna Kunoichi.

Hitting the ground hard Temari took in the damage – Her lower arm was badly burned, as was her flank and upper thigh. Her fan was ruined, with nearly a third just gone and its edges beginning to ignite.

“Stay down.” Sasuke ordered, unhappy with having been forced to injure her as much as he had.

“Dammit… Bastard.” Temari hissed as she bit down on her thumb and smeared blood across the remains of her Iron Fan. With a poof of displaced air Kamatari appeared in a cloud of kicked up dust. “Stop him!”

The sickle carrying weasel’s one good eye widened in surprise at Temari’s condition before turning to glare at Sasuke’s retreating form. With an enraged hiss Kamatari rushed forward in his Quick Beheading Dance. Kamatari vanished with the only sign of his approach being the complete and utter devastation of everything between him and the departing Uchiha.

“Royalguard!” Faster than even Kamatari could move Sasuke turned and blocked the weasel’s strike. A swift one-inch punch – which was accompanied by a localised explosion – from Sasuke knocked Kamatari back several feet. As the white haired rodent righted itself a shot from Coyote-A caught it square in the face, reducing Kamatari’s head to pulp. Sasuke just stared with narrow eyes. “… I hate weasels.”

Turning and continuing on Sasuke soon made it to the ‘Ritual Site’… Sasuke knew it was the place because of the sand. So much sand, that some of Fire Country’s fabled giant tress barely broke the surface of the sand. Switching over to Trickster Style Sasuke jumped from branch to branch up one of the trees, clearing the canopy and surveying the area.

Almost a full kilometre was covered in sand, the multitude of trees mostly submerged creating a scattering of green islands in the immense sea of brown.

“How, in the name of all that is holy, did they manage this without anyone noticing?” Sasuke asked the world as large as he continued scanning the sea of sand for any sign of Gaara. There he was, out in the very centre of the sand, a tiny red speck. A serious of dashes and teleporting ‘jumps’ were employed to close the distance, moving from treetop to treetop. “Yo Sand-For-Brains! I’m here.”

Gaara didn’t respond, didn’t even react, just continued to sit atop a raised mass of sand with his eyes closed.

“So, how did you guys set this up?” Sasuke continued, he was well use to being the only participant in conversations – understandable considering how some of his team could be. “You must have had help, if you’d been able to pull this out of your ass yourself you’d have done so back at the Arena… So, where’s the help?”

“ **I Grew Bored, Devilspawn… They Sated My Appetite While I Waiting.”**

“What the hell happened your voice, did huffing sand dust twenty-four/seven finally catch up?” Sasuke joked as he drew Rebellion and rolled his shoulders. “You know, your brother and sister seem to actually care for you… Really is weird, caring older brother… So look, I don’t like letting monsters go but – in light of their spirit – I’m willing to let you leave… Run, and don’t stop running, until you’re somewhere I will never find you.”

**“Gahahaha… That’s A Very Kind Offer, Devil Boy, And I’m Sure Gaara Would Appreciate It If He Was Here… But He Isn’t, And Shukaku DOES NOT RUN!”**

Sasuke had just enough time to mutter a quiet ‘dammit’ before the ground shuck as if struck by an earthquake and the sea of sand was whipped up as if caught in an immense but invisible tornado. Shielding his eyes, and ignoring the stinging pain of being sandblasted, Sasuke weathered the sandstorm until things settled down… And then he almost wished they hadn’t.

Suna and Oto cleared held a ‘better looking at it than for it’ mentality when it came to getting Shukaku’s appearance ready. Not only had they gathered enough sand to create the truly monstrous Shukaku but they had some amount of leftover sand… Leftover sand that now hovered all around Shukaku – much dispersed in the air while even more had clumped together, along with masses of rock and entire trees, to form mini-planetoids orbiting the Ichibi.

Leaning to his left Sasuke looked over the side of the tree he’d been standing on, and whistled. It was a long, long way down.

“So… Guess there’s no choice now, eh?” Sasuke sighed as Pandora appeared and formed into PF013: Epidemic and let loose. Four explosive tipped arrows arced through the air, sailing towards Shukaku’s face before – “Dammit, should’ve known there’d be a trick.”

The sand that hung heavy in the air had reacted, twisting and forming into a barrier directly in front of his arrows. The explosions scattered the sand but that didn’t matter much since the sand was still under Shukaku’s control.

“Okay, lets see if you can catch these!” Sasuke challenged as PF013: Epidemic morphed into PF124: Hatred and a barrage of missiles streaked across the open space between them… Until Shukaku accepted Sasuke’s challenge and used his sand to pluck the rockets from the air. The rockets were held for an instant before the sand shifted and they soared, right back at Sasuke. “… huh, didn’t expect that actually.”

Turning tail and running full sprint Sasuke leapt off the planetoid and, fuelling his jump with eldritch power channelled through his Trickster Style, landed into a roll on another rocky mass. Looking back Sasuke watched as the missiles impacted and shattered his former positon. Burning chunks of wood and rock raining down.

“Man, what I’d give for Spiral right about now.”

**“GAHAHAHA, WHAT’S THE MATTER LITTLE UCHIHA?!”** Shukaku roared before belching out a massive sphere of chakra infused wind. The Air Bullet was so large, and travelled so fast, that Sasuke was still caught in the force as he’d tried to escape its path.

The hurricane force razor winds tore deep, scratching at bone, and tossed Sasuke around like a leaf before he slammed down atop another mass of earth and sand in Shukaku’s debris field.

**“I GUESS YOU ARE KINDA TOUGH, FOR A LITTLE MAGGOT!”** Shukaku mocked as he scanned for Sasuke.  **“STILL DOESN’T EXPLAIN WHY THAT WASTE KURAMA WAS SO AFRAID OF YOU! ARE YOU HOLDING OUT ON ME? OR… GAHAHAHA, OR IS KURAMA WEAK!? IS HIS HOST PATHETIC, THAT HE FEARS FOR HIS LIFE? GAH… GAHAHA… GAHAHAHAHAHA… PERFECT, I’LL KILL AND EAT YOU THEN AS I RAZE KONOHA I’LL KILL AND EAT HIM TOO… GAHAHAHAHA…”**

“I’ve never been so glad for idiots and monologues.” Sasuke muttered as he stood up and poked through the ragged remains of his coat. Plucking Ebony and Ivory from the shredded cloth Sasuke fastened them to his belt and took stock. He had little that had the range and speed to actually reach Shukaku… And what he did have lacked the impact to do anything, unless. PF398: Revenge formed and fired almost instantly. The demonically charged particle weapon covered the half mile between Sasuke and Shukaku faster than the Sand Demon could react too… The beam carving a trench along the side of the tanuki’s snout. Of course given Shukaku’s size Sasuke ended up with comparably worse cuts shaving.

**“YOU LITTLE MAGGOT! YOU DARE MAR MY FORM?!”** Shukaku shrieked, overreacting considerably. **“I’LL RIP YOUR DAMN SOUL APART BEFORE I EAT IT!”**

“Oh crap, Royalguard!” Sasuke cried as another air bullet raced towards him. Trusting out Sasuke make contact a millisecond before it impacted the planetoid he stood on.

**“GAH, WHAT THE HELLS?”** Shukaku asked dumbfounded as his Drilling Air Bullet jutsu dispersed with minimal damage done.

“Smile!” Sasuke called out as he readied PF398: Revenge and charged up. Now Shukaku was not the smartest of the fearsome Nine Tailed Beasts, but he was far from the dumbest Biju in existence. As soon as PF398: Revenge began charging Shukaku was moving to avoid the shot… Sadly when you can be mistaken for a misshapen mountain getting clear can take a second or two.

**“GRAGIHH! DRAM ROU!”** Shukaku slurred through his now twisted mouth. The beam had caught him a glancing blow, of course a ‘glancing blow’ from something that destructive had blasted off a large portion of Shukaku’s lower face and fused much of what was left into a crude glass. Straining his mangled jaw Shukaku managed to split the fused glass and bellow as loud as he could. **“I’RL DASRRY ROU! DRGY!”**

The air before Shukaku began to ripple and distort from the sheer amount of power the Biju was radiating. He was pumping out so much that it became visible, great orbs of positive and negative energy colliding and fusing in front of its mangled maw.

“… Eh, that doesn’t look good.” Sasuke guessed before deciding he had to go all out. One last attack, meet whatever Shukaku was gearing up for with his own ultimate trick. Taking off and moving as fast as Trickster would enable him Sasuke closed the gap. Moving from planetoid to planetoid, destroying several to scatter debris to traverse Sasuke moved in.

Kicking off the last rock Sasuke all but flew towards Shukaku and his Beast Bomb. Sasuke had one chance to pull this off right, every action had to be executed perfectly… No pressure.

First, transforming! The near naked form of Sasuke Uchiha warped and twisted as skin either toughened into scaly hide or swelled like insectoid chitin.

**“Royalguard!”** Sasuke bellowed before triggering his stance’s ultimate defence. Dreadnaught! Sasuke’s form, already inhuman, changed further! His upper body growing and extending out, scales and chitin warping into living metal.

**_“Gunslinger!”_ ** another stance change, another step closer to victory or defeat! Pandora, having gorged itself and the havoc and disaster its use had caused, was straining against him – the eldritch power surge his Devil Trigger form fed it only making it even more excited. Gripping the locks on Pandora’s Box, Sasuke flicked them open.

The full might of PF666: Omen met Shukaku’s Beats Bomb head on. A pulse of light vs. an orb of darkness… for the briefest of instants, too small for even the strongest of sharingan to register, both locked in place – frozen by the other’s power – before the clash ended violently.

The resulting explosion was hundreds of feet wide, sent shock waves that battered Konoha several kilometres away and was felt in other countries. Thrown by the power of the blast, two charred lumps crashed down… Neither seemed capable of moving for the longest time.

**_XXXXX_ **

**_Have now caught up with Fanfiction.net and am posting here slightly ahead of the other place. Nearly done._ **

**_I'm dyslexic, so please point out any mistakes in spelling or grammar [I spell things the way they do in England and Ireland, so some things may look off to Americans]. Please leave your opinion via review or send them via PM, I'd like to know what you think. Well, I think that's everything I've gotta say so, hope you enjoyed the chapter._ **

**_This is Highvalour saying bye and thanks for reading_ **

 


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